Healthy Snacks for Big Kids

By big kids, I mean adults...We're talking about for snacks for the parents here...

I need some ideas - since I am giving up dessert/sweet treats for the rest of the month... Only for 3 days?  Just kidding.  What I really mean is that I am not eating them for the month of October.  Gonna flex some self-control before the holidays.  The rule is I cannot have anything "sweet" that will increase cravings.

Last spring when a friend and I gave up sugar for Lent, I found that the hardest time of the day was when I needed something to dull the 3pm hunger until dinnertime.  So that's why I am making a go-to list of non-sweet snack ideas.  Late afternoon is when I tend to eat desserts that are sitting in the kitchen.  I have little self-control.  That's why I have to banish the desserts altogether and tell myself they are not even an option.  I am not doing it to lose weight.  I simply want to feel the empowering feeling again of not being captive to cravings.

The one exception is that for doing well, I will treat myself to a once-a-week treat at Starbucks.  I have a giftcard :)

Ok, as for the "big kid snacks", here's what I've come up with so far.  This is stuff that worked for me the last time I did this.

• the old stand-by of chips and salsa (I get the organic corn chips from Costco and the organic salsa.)
• a pb&j sandwich and milk
• almonds and raisins
• crackers and cheese
• banana or apple with peanut butter
• freshly popped stovetop popcorn in coconut oil sprinkled with salt and parmesan
• leftovers from the fridge (sometimes I just ate my dinner early if we were planning on having leftovers, and then had a piece of fruit or side salad when I sat down to eat with the family)

Help!

More suggestions??

Anyone want to join me?  C'mon!  What is there to lose?

PS - My husband was a little bummed when I told him I was going to do this.  So I agreed to still make all those yummy fall desserts as long as I don't eat any and he takes the entire thing/batch to work with him immediately!

Recommendations

Did you know....

I added a couple of pages to this blog?

I added an About page, just because I felt like I should have one.

AND

I added an Amazon store.

I did this so that I can easily keep a running list of products that I like and think you might enjoy, too.  If you purchase a product through my amazon store OR by searching and purchasing any amazon item through the search box on the sidebar of this blog, I have the chance to earn a very small commission from that transaction.  Right now the store mosly includes some recommended reading, many books that I have mentioned on here before.  It also includes a few of my favorite children's toys and products.  I will probably add some more sections for more gift-giving ideas soon.  Especially since we are getting closer to Christmas.  Enjoy browsing!

Menu Plan 9/27/10

Breakfasts:
Eggs and Toast (I would like to attempt these homemade sourdough wheat English muffins.)
Baked Soaked Oatmeal
Kashi Shredded Wheat with Milk

Lunches:
Pasta Salad from last week (didn't make it yet)
or the Usual (pb&j sandwiches, yogurt/cheese, fruit)

Dinners:
Monday - Grilled Chicken Wraps, Green Beans
Tuesday - Leftovers
Wednesday - Cheesy Bowties (add spinach)
Thursday - Leftovers
Friday - BBQ Meatballs, etc. (requested by my visiting sister)
Saturday - TBD after shopping
Sunday - TBD

Dessert:
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies (We scarf these down!  At least I do.)

September Groceries, Week 4

Odds and ends this week... and finished!

Another trip to Costco for tortillas (they were out the first time), salsa, and cereal (impulse buy) - $24

Milk, eggs, and chicken from the farm - $26

Target goods arranged by my 3 year old :

Wipes (sale+coupon), dish brush (not pictured because my daughter was playing with it), carpet cleaner (yes, we have Oxyclean, but...), peanut butter (an impulse buy because it was marked down), shower gel, and pasta shells (usually I don't buy white pasta, but this is for a particular dish where I prefer it) - would have totaled $22 , but instead was $0. Yay for a giftcard, whoo-hoo!

I dislike walking out of a big box store feeling like I spent my money on a bag of unsubstantial stuff.  That's how I felt.  Only about half of this stuff is necessary, but the stuff that isn't will at least make my husband a happier man.  (He hates not having a dish brush or the kind of foamy carpet cleaner he likes...)

This left $8... which I just spent today on the items below at Aldi:

I went for some bananas and tomatoes, but got the other items as well when I saw that they were marked down... everything I got was a great price!

Ghiradelli brownie mix - on clearance for 99 cents (my husband can take this to work when he has to take treats), onions - 3 lbs. for 69 cents (will chop and freeze), multi-colored peppers - 3 for $1.29 (will slice or chop and freeze), avocados - 29 cents each!, bananas - 39 cents a lb., and tomatoes $1.39.  A note on tomatoes from Aldi - usually I prefer their pesticide free ones that are like 3 tomatoes on a vine for $1.49 but these looked mushy today so I got the Roma tomatoes instead.

We will want milk by midweek next week, so that money is just going to have to come from another envelope - thankfully there is some there!

So, I know I said I wasn't going to stock up on frozen pastured chickens from the farm to last us through winter, but I think I am going to try to get enough in the freezer for at least one per month.  That means 7, in order to last until next May... they are small, so I think they will fit in okay.  That's where most leftover cash (from other areas of the budget) from this month will likely be going.

WFMW: Target Thermal Curtains

I really like my inexpensive thermal curtains that completely block the afternoon sun from our eating area.  At $9.99 each, they can't be beat.  When we want to use the doors or let the light in (when it is not the heat of the day), we just push them aside.  Works for me!

I realize the brown curtains next to the brown mat looks a little drab, but this is where our dark-haired dog likes to hang out.  So dark is good :)

Menu Plan 9/20/10

Interested in real food/slow food/whateveryouwantocallit?  Check out this article: Do you have the balls to really change to food system?  Wow.

I have found another way to using the precious chicken stock from roasting sticky chicken in the crock-pot.  Use it for making brown rice.  I really like this Perfectly Baked Brown Rice recipe.

Breakfasts:
Waffles with Syrup*
Baked Soaked Oatmeal (I use less apples and raisins, a tad more buttemilk, and no baking powder.)
Eggs and Toast
Milk

Lunches:
Pasta Salad: Whole Wheat Penne, Chicken, Olives, Tomatoes, Feta, Italian Dressing

Dinners:
Monday - Quesadillas, Salad with Ranch
Tuesday - Leftovers
Wednesday - Tuna Melts, Salad
Thursday - Chimichangas**, Salad
Friday - Leftovers
Saturday - Red Beans & Rice
Sunday - Leftovers

Other:
Yogurt
Apples & Pears

*These are my favorite waffles ever. I make a double batch on a weekend night (because making waffles is tedious for me) and freeze them. Then just pop them in the toaster or under the broiler in the mornings. I think they taste like Eggos from childhood! This syrup is easy if you make it ahead. Last time, I only used vanilla extract, because that was all I had, and we still liked it.

**When I make these chimichangas (which I've tried with beef, gound turkey, shredded turkey, and chopped chicken, part beans, each being good,) I use one cup of salsa in replacement of the 1/2 c. taco sauce + 1/2 c. green chilis. Simpler and less to buy at the store. Also, I use about 1/2 the amount of butter called for and I don't dip the tortillas. I put some melted butter in the bottom of the pan, place the rolled chimichangas in, and then bush butter generously on the tops of the tortillas. They still turn out plenty crunchy and yummy.  I also usually use more tortillas than called for to stretch the meat further.  I roll them thinner, more like taquitoes.
 
Fall officially starts this week! :)

September Groceries, Week 2 & 3

While we were on vacation for a week, we did buy food and cook, but that came from a separate account.  So to be realistic, rather than keep that week's worth of the grocery budget in the envelope, I have removed $100 (approximately 1 week's worth of the grocery budget.)  Hopefully that can go either into savings or be designated for a special purchase/event (ahem, Christmas is coming fast) at the end of this month.

Today I spent approximately $103 at Costco and $22 at Whole Foods.  Doesn't look like much, but these are large packages (For example, that is 5 lbs. of shredded mozzarella and a 2 lb. block of cheddar cheese.)  I also spent $13 on milk and apples a week and a half ago.  Add in the previous purchases this month, subtract it all from our $400 monthly gocery budget, and that leaves $58 for milk, eggs, and chicken from the farm and for other odds and ends for the remainder of September.  It's gonna be tight!

My apologies for the glary picture; I'm always in a hurry to put the food away and fix lunch for the kids and myself.  Here's what we got:
green beans
yogurt
mozzarella
cheddar
brown rice
salad greens
tomatoes
coffee
bread
lemon juice
vanilla
jelly
feta cheese
pears (organic $1/lb. at WF)
apples (organic, $1/lb. at WF)
eggs
kidney beans
black beans
oatmeal
mulit-grain flour
peanut butter
buttermilk

Happy shoppping to you!

PS - Rumor has it that Trader Joe's is coming to our area.... I am so excited!

Autumn

We just returned from a fabulous visit to the mountains, and I think I am finally ready for fall.  Good thing, because it is just about here.

After a week of eating more junk than is good for me, I feel the need to cleanse the system.  Kind of like after the holidays :)  Guess I will have to be strategic with the fall baking.  Maybe limit it to once a week?

I go back and forth between wanting a breadmaker and not wanting one.  Anyone with me?

Another thing: Katie, I'm in.  My main problem is the laptop.  For the remainder of September, no computer for me between naptime and the kids' bedtime.  (Started today.)

There are a lot house projects to do, both repairs and creative endeavors, that I am not getting to.  Hmm.  Where do the weekends go...?

I read 3 Nicholas Sparks books while travelling over the past week and a half.  It was great.  I probably won't get around to reading another for-fun novel until Christmas break.

Goodnight!

Menu Plan 9/13/10

Breakfasts:
Cereal with Milk (taking the easy way out this week because cereal has been such a steal)
Bananas

Lunches:
Sandwiches or Leftovers
Cheese
Carrots
Fruit

Dinners:
Monday - Dinner with friends, sharing Rice Krispie Treats
Tuesday - Tuna Cheesies, Peas
Wednesday - Crispy, Thin Crust Hamburger Pizza
Thursday - Shepherd's Pie
Friday - Leftovers
Saturday - TBD after a shopping trip!
Sunday - TBD after a shopping trip!

Menu Plan 9/6/10

Breakfasts:
Eggs, Bacon, Toast
Cheerios with Milk
Bananas

Lunches:
Sandwiches
Fruit
Cheese

Dinners:
Monday - Spaghetti Pie, Fresh Green Beans
Tuesday - Leftovers
Wednesday - Chili & Cornbread
Thursday - Leftovers
Friday - Hamburgers, Potatoes
Saturday - Leftovers
Sunday - Dinner with Friends

Snacks:
Apples and Dip
Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Popcorn

Visit the Organizing Junkie for other menus!

September Groceries, Week 1

I was seriously embarassed by the amount of highly processed food in my grocery cart when I checked out at Aldi last week.  Barf!  I was getting things for my husband's hunting trip, where he was cooking for the group.  Then I realized how silently critical I can be of other people's grocery carts... Oops.

Anyways.  Well, there's my disclaimer, so you know I wasn't buying all this for my family.  The massive amounts of processed meat, the chips, candy, snacks, and soft drinks =  for the hunting trip.  (You may not be able to tell from the picture, but there are 5 packages of bacon, 3 tubes of breakfast sausage, and 3 packages of bratwurst there!)

I made two grocery runs this week.  I hit Aldi and a local grocery store on the first run on my day off and  two local grocery stores on my way home from work later in the week.  The photo is from after the first run.  The second time I was in a hurry to get the stuff in the fridge and freezer and didn't take a photo.  Sorry!  I also picked up one gallon of raw milk and one whole pastured chicken from my carpool gal.  Oh -and organic grapes and apples at Whole Foods for $1/lb.

I fess up that I did buy 2 loaves of not-pictured Sara Lee "fake" bread (fake, for those of you who have read In Defense of Food).  It was 99 cents and helped me stay in budget.  The cereal came out to about 33 cents a box with no coupons!  If I had had coupons, I would have been getting paid to take it home.  The store was running an instant rebate of $10 if you buy 6 boxes, plus you get a a coupon for $6 off your next shopping trip (which I used the next day).  So I basically paid $2 for 6 boxes of Cheerios.  I don't typically buy that much cereal, but it sure is handy to have around for when I feel like being lazy so I couldn't pass this up.

After getting reimbursed from those hunting guys, I am right at $104 spent so far out of the $400 grocery budget for the month.

I am hoping to condense the next few weeks' shopping trips into one Costco trip.  Stay tuned!

Menu plan coming tomorrow...

Grass-Fed Beef Sale

For those who are interested, I happened to see on Whole Foods' website that all their U.S. stores are having a  one day grass-fed beef sale on Friday, 9/3.  Looks like the ground beef will be $3.99/lb.  If this is 100% grass-fed, this is a pretty good price.

(I don't know if you can get the typical additional 50 cents/lb. off for purchasing a family pack of 3 lbs. or more, but it is worth asking about at the butcher counter...)