12 Weeks to a Healthier You Challenge check-in and update

As I mentioned in my goals post, I didn't do so great with exercise (January's focus) for the challenge this month.  I did fairly well sticking to the original goals of my "Trim Healthy Me" challenge, aside from the exercise part, but honestly I'm going to have to tweak that challenge too.  I can handle not eating much sugar.  I can normally handle drinking plenty of water (although I didn't do so well with that while sick--but I did keep guzzling tea!).  And usually I can handle exercising 3 times a week, too. I lost almost 4.5 lbs. in the past month, getting me back to my maintenance weight, and I also lost 3-4 inches overall, so I was super happy about all of that. But for the final two weeks of my personal challenge, I am dropping the Trim Healthy Mama eating plan somewhat.  I had been doing great with it for breakfasts and lunches, and I ate a TON more salad in the past month than ever, which was so wonderful!!  But this month our grocery budget is going to be really tight, and I'm not going to be buying much--if any--meat.  I'm going to have to stretch the meat we have, with soups and pasta, etc.  I just can't put the brain power into the THM plan right now, so here's what I'm going to do:

• Separate my fats & carbs as much as possible, but not stress about when I can't.
• Get back on track with drinking 3 bottles of water, at least 5-6 days/week.
• Exercise 3x/week.
• Eat fresh fruits and veggies when we can afford it, but not stress about it when we can't.

That last point is where I'm modifying Crystal's challenge.  Her plan for this month is to focus on fruits and veggies, while I feel like I did really well with this in January, but not well at all with exercise, so basically I am going to flip-flop the challenges and focus on exercise this month.  I hope that makes sense. :)  Hopefully this month I'll be more faithful about checking in weekly to let you all know how it's going!

Trim Healthy Me Challenge Update

Okay, I *planned* to get a bunch more posts written between Jan. 1 and today.  I also planned to update weekly about how my health & fitness challenge was going!  But the past 2+ weeks have been busy as we've tried to get back to a normal school routine . . . Jim has also been home more (currently working from home building furniture most of the time), so we've been adjusting to that . . . and anyway, blogging kinda took a back burner to real life.  :)

So, here is an update, FINALLY, about the first 2 weeks of my 6 week challenge!  Overall, it's going well.  I've been able to lose about 4.5 lbs. (depending on any given day--sometimes it's less!) of the holiday weight gain, which has put me back at right around the same weight I've been maintaining for more than a year (127ish).  I still have a goal of getting to 120, but one step at a time . . . and for right now I'm just happy that the extra fluffy feeling is gone and my jeans are fitting normally again. :)

I haven't gotten my 3 water bottles in every single day, but overall I'm hydrating well and drinking at least 2 per day.  I have hit my exercise goal of 3x a week, either walking or running on the treadmill for at least 15-20 minutes.  While I know 5x a week would be even better, I'm still trying to figure out a good routine and for now I'm going to stick with 3x.  I figure it's a whole lot better than nothing. :)  I have been doing pretty well with no refined sugar.  My only "cheat" was last night when we had a little birthday celebration for my mom.  I made the dessert mostly healthy, but it did have some chocolate chips (semi sweet) in it, and there was also sugar in the sweet & sour sauce we had with our egg rolls, and the raspberry sauce that went on the dessert.  I only had little bits of all that, so I'm not too worried. :)  I'm very thankful for being able to enjoy the healthier "skinny chocolate" alternatives (this peanut butter skinny chocolate is the BEST) made with xylitol, though, so I can still have my chocolate fix most every day!  And I've been mostly eating Trim Healthy Mama style at breakfast and lunch, but doing plenty of "crossovers" (mixing fats & carbs) at supper.  I think I'd do better with weight loss if I didn't, but this is what works for me right now since I need to fix frugal suppers and eat what the rest of the family is eating.

I decided to jump in with Money Saving Mom's "12 Months to a Healthier You" challenge, which I think will be just what I need to keep me focused on good health all year long.  (This month's focus is on regular exercise.)  So I'm going to try my best to update each Friday from now on, since that is the day she posts her updates and has a link-up for others to do so, too.

If any of you are doing your own challenge, how's it going?  Let's encourage each other!! :)

Time for a new challenge!

Okay ladies, it's almost the beginning of a new year . . . and you know what that means, right?! ;)  Yep, it means that I'm all fired up to give myself some new challenges and set some new goals.  Even though Jan 1 isn't till Wednesday, I wanted to give you a heads-up about my healthy living challenge that I'm going to be starting that day.  I'm calling it the "Trim Healthy Me" challenge, because I'm planning to try and follow the principles from the book Trim Healthy Mama as closely as possible.  Now, this particular challenge is a personal one . . . however, if any of you want to join in for the accountability, you are MORE than welcome.  I love the encouragement that comes with numbers! :)  If you want to do your own personal challenge, there is no need to follow the same thing I'm doing, but I'd love it if you want to post a comment with your own goals!

Here is what my own challenge is going to look like:

• It will last for 6 weeks, starting Jan. 1, 2014.
• I plan to do a sugar detox during this time.  NO refined sugar, white or brown.  My sweetener of choice will be xylitol, but I recently ran out of it and haven't gotten more yet, so in the meantime I am giving myself a little grace and plan to use coconut sugar for coffee, and raw honey for tea. :)
• I will be trying to follow the basic principles laid out in THM, but again, I will give myself a little wiggle room with this.  Especially for suppers.  A lot depends on our food budget for the month. :)  So I will plan to stick to the eating plan at least for breakfast, lunch, and snacks, and do the best I can with suppers.  
• I will have a goal of drinking 3 bottles of water every day.  I have gotten away from this lately, but I feel so much better when I am properly hydrated!
• I will exercise at least 3 times a week.  At this point I'm planning to work my way through the C25K or C210K on the treadmill, but I may change that up now and then with other kinds of exercise.  I know 5 days/week would be better, but I'm starting small so I can ease myself back into it, since I have gotten away from exercise over the past couple months, too!

So this is the basic framework for my challenge!  Over the past month, I have gained 4-5 lbs after maintaining within a couple pounds of my original goal weight for the past year.  My jeans are fitting a little snugger and I feel icky after eating too much holiday junk, so I know it is time for a CHANGE! :) I'm very much looking forward to how much better I will feel in 6 weeks!  I want to rebuild these healthy habits, and I'll plan to (hopefully) post about my progress along the way.

If you'd like to come up with your own challenge but need some inspiration, here are a few sites to check out: 

• 40 day fitness challenge from Smartter Each Day
• 8 week weight loss/get healthy challenge with free printables from Six Sisters' Stuff (I've done this one a couple times, and it is great!)
• Sugar Detox Challenge (this is an ebook for Kindle, available for $2.99)
• 42 Days to Fit (another Kindle ebook with a 6 week challenge, available for $4.99)
• Crystal at Money Saving Mom also just mentioned that she will be blogging the 12 Months to a Healthier You challenge; she'll post more about it in 2 days, so I'll try to remember to update this post then with the link!  UPDATE: Here's the link!

I started this post earlier, then helped Jim shovel the deck.  I have decided that if we have a lot of snow this winter (which seems like it will be the case, judging from how much we've got so far!), I'll definitely get some extra workouts with shoveling.  Whew!  And it's so cold out that I think that burned off some extra calories, too. :)

**This post contains Amazon affiliate links. :)

My Two-Week "Eat from the Pantry" Challenge

Over the past month, I have really fallen off the menu-planning wagon.  Like, badly.  I was somewhat mortified to look back over my calendar and realize the last time I actually "planned" a menu for the first 1-2 weeks of October!  As we all know, it's a lot easier to keep grocery spending under control (as well as eliminate last minute "what's for supper" headaches!) if you have a plan, and I was tired of not having one.  I also decided it would be good to eat up some of our stockpile and keep the grocery spending really low for the next 2 weeks (at least) before the extra holiday cooking and baking is upon us.  So, it was time for another eat from the pantry challenge!

I finally had time over the weekend to make a list of most of the staples we have on hand (including meat and veggies in the freezer), and I planned my menu based on that.  Here is my tentative plan for the next two weeks.  (This is just suppers--breakfasts are usually baked oatmeal, granola or other cereal, toast, or eggs, and lunches are usually just sandwiches.)

Tonight 11-11: Fiesta Sweet Potato Soup (using chicken instead of sausage), Cornbread

Tues. 11-12: Mac 'n Cheese, Applesauce or Roasted Carrots

Weds. 11-13: Spinach Stuffed Shells, Italian bread

Thurs. 11-14: Pancakes, Bacon OR Leftover Mac 'n Cheese (if we have enough)

Fri 11-15: Roast Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Squash

Sat. 11-16: Steakums on sub rolls, Popcorn or Pita Chips

Sun. 11-17: Pizza and Popcorn

Mon. 11-18: Chicken Quesadillas, Rice

Tues. 11-19: Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup (I adapt this recipe), Biscuits

Weds. 11-20: Buffalo Chicken Lasagna (crockpot), Italian bread

Thurs. 11-21: Pancakes or Scrambled Eggs, Bacon

Fri. 11-22: Crockpot Venison w/Gravy, Mashed Potatoes, Mixed Veggies

Sat. 11-23: Tomato Soup, Grilled Cheese or Tuna Sandwiches

Sun. 11-24: Pizza and Popcorn

I have to do a little more figuring, but I *think* we probably have enough stuff on hand to also make meals for the three remaining days after this menu ends, before Thanksgiving.  We'll see. :)  My goal is to keep my grocery budget for the next 2 weeks at $50 total (or below).  So far all that's on my list to supplement what we already have is:

• Ricotta cheese
• Jumbo shells
• Frozen chopped spinach
• Parmesan cheese
• Square foil pans (this and the above 3 items are all part of a meal I'm making for someone, which is the reason I'm buying them instead of eating from the pantry that night--plus my kid LOVE stuffed shells :))
• Brown sugar
• Potatoes
• Dishwasher detergent
• Swiss cheese (possibly) or mozzarella

We will also need to buy milk at least once, I'm sure, and probably some fruit.  But looking at my list so far, I'm hopeful that the challenge will be a successful one. :)  AND, I'm really happy to have a plan worked out again, finally!!

30 Days of Thankfulness: November 1

I'm giving myself a little challenge this month, trying to write a short post every day with something I am thankful for.  Considering my blogging record (or lack thereof!) in October, this may be a total fail . . . but I'm going to try!! :)  Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, and I want to really focus on my blessings this month.  Sometimes I might share a general blessing and other times I might share something specific from that day.  I would love to have you all join me in the comments if you'd like!

Today I am thankful that my children are each others' best friends.  They have other friends too, whom they love to get together and play with, but just the three of them together can have so. much. fun.  The past two afternoons have been spent making cars out of cardboard boxes for their various stuffed animals to ride in.  After making a car or two, they are off to make a story together, and the sounds of their cheerful voices and sound effects just makes me smile. :)  I love that they all get along so well (most of the time :)) and I think homeschooling is partly to thank for this, although it is also partly just their personalities and closeness in age.  

Yes, they make a mess with all this creativity and story-making.  Yes, sometimes the aftermath drives me nearly insane.  But someday I am going to miss the mess and the happy voices.  I am choosing to treasure the moments right now, and I pray that they will always be able to maintain the special sibling friendship that they have today.



**I hope to get up a post to recap October (WHERE did that month go?!!) and set some goals for November sometime this weekend . . . we will see if it actually happens. :)

Living and Active Challenge Check-In, Week 2: "Dedicated Daily"

I made it through another week of the Living and Active Challenge!  I ran/walked on the treadmill 3 days and did the 30 Day Shred (level 1) the 4th day.  I didn't lose any weight this week, but I wasn't really surprised . . . hoping for a little more success with that this week. :)

Once again, this week's verse was just what I needed to meditate on.  I have had Matthew 6:34 memorized for years from the KJV, but I decided to try and memorize it from the ESV last week, to challenge myself a little more, and also because I like the translation a little better.  "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."  Clare related this verse to our physical efforts in fitness, but also our spiritual walk with God.  In her devotional for last week she said, "We have a great responsibility to ask God for the strength, grace and wisdom for the day.  Then we need to take what He gives us for that day.  Nothing more.  Nothing less.  We can't rely upon others to give us what we need to be getting ourselves either."  This was a really, really important reminder for me, as I struggle often with giving each day to God and relying on His strength to get me through it.

I needed to meditate on this verse for other reasons, too!  As I mentioned in last week's post, my husband recently lost his part-time job, which had been a regular source of income for us for the past couple of years.  Right now he has several projects going for people, including a barn-building job that is supplying the bulk of our income at the moment.  But one night last week I was thinking about his work, and the "what if's" started popping into my mind.  "What if he doesn't get another big job when he finishes building the barn?  What then?"  The very next day my mind went back to this verse, and it was such a wonderful reminder to not be anxious about tomorrow.  God has given us what we need for THIS day.  He is helping us to store up as much as possible for the future, but ultimately we need to leave all the tomorrows in His hands!  Matthew 6:34 is a wonderfully comforting verse and I'm so thankful for the reminder to apply it last week (and daily :)).

Living and Active Challenge Check-In, Week 1: "Tied Together"

So, I promised I'd check in every Monday, and of course my Monday was so busy that I didn't have time to post till it's almost over. :)  Anyway . . . my first week of this 5 week challenge went well, and I was able to meet my goals:  4 days of exercise (alternated running/walking on the treadmill with doing Level 1 of the 30 Day Shred) and I memorized the verse for the week.  There were a few days that I was feeling super tired and highly un-motivated, so I was really thankful we only had to exercise 4 days to meet the requirements. :)  I lost a little weight at the beginning of the week, but gained it back by Sunday.  Hopefully this week will be a little better in that regard . . . we shall see!

As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm really thankful that Clare incorporates a spiritual aspect to this challenge.  Memorizing Ecclesiastes 4:12 was so good for me, as it forced me to meditate on it every day last week.  I memorized it from the KJV because that is most familiar to me for memorizing, although I usually use the ESV for my personal quiet time and church.  Anyway, here it is: "And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken."  I loved how Clare put it in her little devotional: "We are stronger together than we are apart . . . The cords are not strong laying beside each other.  They aren't strong with laying on top of one another or being end to end.  The strength is in the weaving and intertwining of the three."  I'm thankful that one of my friends agreed to do the challenge along with me, and that I'm also reporting in on my blog.  There's strength in numbers!  The words about the threefold cord are so true.

But this verse seemed to apply even more importantly in a different way this week.  Some of you know that my hubby lost his part-time job that he's had for the past 2 1/2 years; we found out last Monday.  It wasn't really unexpected, as work had been slow there and he'd only worked one day in the 2 weeks before he was let go.  It was also actually a neat answer to prayer, since we'd been praying about whether he should quit, as more and more carpentry work was coming in.  But still . . . losing a source of income, even one that is only part-time, can leave you feeling a little shaky, in spite of the fact that we both felt God's peace about it.  It's been a kind of security for us, even though we knew it could end anytime.  I have often heard Ecclesiastes 4:12 applied to marriage, and that's the main way I was thinking about it this week.  In the past when work has been slow, my tendency is to worry and take out my worry on my husband, who is doing his best to provide for us.  This verse reminded me at the perfect time that Jim and I are a team, and along with God, we are a threefold cord.  When we are trusting Him and staying close to Him and each other, then we will be a stronger unit and have a stronger marriage.  When we take our eyes off Him and those ties loosen, we can easily fall apart.  I hope this makes sense--it's late and I tend to ramble when it gets late. :)  Anyway, I was thankful for this important reminder which came at just the right time for me!

I'm excited to see how Week 2 goes, and what God will teach me this week. :)

A new challenge for September/October!

I was so excited to see that Clare from Peak 313 Fitness is hosting her second annual Living and Active Challenge!  I actually hemmed and hawed for a few days, trying to decide if I should join in . . . but I think a new challenge is just what I need.  Now that the days are getting cooler, I'm more motivated to exercise, and I also love how she's including a spiritual focus for each week, along with a memory verse.  So . . . I am in!!

This morning I took my measurements, weighed in, and took a couple of "before" photos for my own reference.  I'll be interested to see if I look any different after 5 weeks of regular exercise. :)

I am also working on applying the eating principles from the book Trim Healthy Mama, which I had referred to last week.  Over the past week I've lost about 1.5 lbs. just by eating a little differently, and I am finally back in the 125's after holding steady between 127-130 for the whole summer.  My goal is to get down around 120 (if that's even possible ;)), but I realize that starting up regular exercise again might make me gain muscle weight.  But I'm OK with that if my inches start going down . . . :)

Anyway, I will be checking in here every Monday to let you know how the challenge is going, as well as sharing anything I learned spiritually from the past week, the memory verse, etc.  If anyone wants to join in, you should check out this post at Peak 313!!  (You don't have to be a blogger to participate.)  Everyone who completes all the challenge requirements for the full 5 weeks will be entered in a giveaway for a great prize package!  That's some good motivation, right there. :)

**This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

Make it From Scratch Week, Day 4: Homemade Bread

 Well, it was a good thing I made elderberry syrup on Tuesday, since I got hit with a bad cold on Wednesday!!  I've been taking lots of it and trying to get as much rest as possible, and am feeling a bit better today.  :)

So I totally missed posting anything for Wednesday's project, although I was going to count the Almond Joy Bites (sweetened with xylitol!) that I made on Tuesday night.  However, I don't even have a picture of them (mine didn't come out too pretty anyway--should have made them in mini muffin tins :)), but you can follow the link and see the pictures at the Blue House Blog where I got the recipe.  I left the almonds out of mine to save money, so they were actually more like Mounds bites.  Very yummy!

Anyway, yesterday's Make it From Scratch project was one that I do pretty much every week: homemade wheat bread.  I make 4 loaves at a time and this lasts us about a week, sometimes less.

My recipe is adapted from the homemade wheat bread at Tammy's Recipes . . . I haven't changed it much, only I use molasses instead of honey since it is cheaper (and we don't mind the stronger flavor of molasses).  Here's the recipe:

Wheat Bread

4 cups warm water

4 T. milk

1/2 cup oil (I use coconut oil)

1/2 cup molasses

1/2 cup brown sugar

8 t. instant yeast

6-7 cups whole wheat flour

6-7 cups all purpose flour

4 t. salt

several sprinkles of ginger

several sprinkles of citric acid 

(both ginger and the citric acid are optional, but help with the rising)

Add water, milk, oil, molasses, brown sugar and yeast to large mixer bowl.  (NOTE: You MUST have a large mixer for making this recipe--I use the largest size Kitchen Aid, which holds 6 quarts and can handle this much dough.  If you don't have a mixer that large, you will need to make the recipe by hand, or cut the recipe in half to make 2 loaves instead.  Make sure you don't overtax your mixer; we don't want anyone burning out their motors trying to make this bread!! :))

I never bother mixing up the liquid ingredients; just dump them all in there with the brown sugar and add the yeast on top.  Next, add the flours, salt, ginger and citric acid (if using).  (See recipe at Tammy's Recipes for more ideas on dough enhancers!)

Attach dough hook and mix on stir speed until the dough is mostly combined, then turn it up to the next speed for a little bit to get everything nicely kneaded together.  I find that it doesn't take long (less than a minute) to get it kneaded to my liking.

Turn oven on to 200 degrees F and grease a LARGE bowl.  When dough is finished kneading, dump dough into the greased bowl and turn so top and bottom are both greased.  Cover with a clean kitchen towel and wait till oven has come up to temperature.  Put the bowl in the warm oven and TURN OVEN OFF.  Let rise in warm oven for about an hour.  The dough should have risen nicely, a bit above the top of the bowl.

Turn dough out onto a clean, floured counter.  (Turn dough over so both top and bottom are floured.)  Grease 4 bread pans and cut dough into 4 roughly even pieces.  Shape into loaves and place in pans.  Turn oven on to 200 again and put the pans in, once it's up to temperature.  TURN OVEN OFF again and let the bread rise for about 35 minutes.  (Don't bother to cover it this time.)  Once the 35 minutes are up, turn the oven light on and peek in through the window if your oven has one, to make sure the dough looks nicely risen.  Turn oven on to 350 degrees F and bake for 35 minutes.  As soon as it comes out of the oven, brush the top of each loaf with butter.

Cool bread in pans on wire racks for 15ish minutes, then gently loosen and turn out of pans onto racks to cool more.  Slice and enjoy!

Phew!  It took longer to write that all out than it takes to actually do it. :)  I hope I didn't leave anything out.  I do this recipe from memory now, so I was walking through each step in my mind . . . hopefully I didn't miss anything.  I should note that as with anything, making bread takes a lot of practice.  This bread turns out well for me almost every time, but I still have days where it comes out different than others.  A lot depends on humidity, etc.  Sometimes I get a nice firm bread, almost like store bought bread in texture.  Other times it turns out floppy and fall-aparty.  But at least it always turns out yummy (except when you forget the salt--don't ask me how I know ;))!

Make it From Scratch Week, Day 2: Deluxe Elderberry Syrup

 For today's Make it From Scratch project, I made a fresh batch of elderberry syrup.  I love using homemade elderberry syrup as a preventative measure/natural remedy for colds and other illnesses through the winter months, especially.  We were almost completely out of the syrup I made last year, so it was time to make a new batch.

Last year we were thrilled to discover a bunch of elderberry bushes growing wild on our property.  We had also bought two bushes (before we found the wild ones).  The chickens ate all the berries off the ones we planted, but they left the others alone, probably because most of the berries were too high for them to reach. :)  We have picked tons of them this summer, enough to give a few bags away and still have plenty left over for ourselves!  In fact, this batch I just made was from last year's berries that were still in the freezer!

In the past I have used this recipe from Deep Roots at Home for my syrup.  It's super easy and very effective!  This time I had happened across some other recipes at Gwen's Nest, and decided to try the "deluxe" version, since I had both nettle and astragalus root on hand.  I used about 2+ cups of berries, 1/2 cup of nettle and 1/2 cup of astragalus root, and 6 cups of water.  I brought it to a boil:

 Then reduced the heat and simmered it for a long time (around an hour or a little more, I think) till the liquid was reduced quite a bit.  After it cooled, I used a pastry blender to moosh up the berries.  I could have also used a potato masher, but mine was dirty and I was too lazy to wash it right then . . . but pretty much any tool that's good for mashing/breaking things up will work . . . you just want to get lots of juice out of the berries. :)

 Next I put them through a paper-towel lined thin kitchen towel over a strainer.  I squeezed as much juice as possible out of the towel, then my handy hubby made me a wooden press and clamped it together to get even more juice out.  It worked great . . . too great, actually.  It squeezed a hole in the towel.  Oops.  It probably wasn't worth the extra work for the teaspoon or so of additional juice that we got!

 I ended up with about 2 cups of juice.  I mixed in about a cup of raw honey (I am blessed to have a local source of raw honey as my neighbor friend keeps bees!!), 1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar, and the juice of 1 lemon (supposed to be 2 lemons, but I only had 1 on hand).  I gave it a good mix with a whisk till all the honey was incorporated . . .

 And, ta-da!  Homemade deluxe elderberry syrup, all ready and waiting to fend off colds and viruses all winter long. :)  I ended up with about a quart of syrup.  Half went into a pint jar and then I half-filled two other jars and stashed them in the freezer.  The syrup can ferment/mold if you don't use it up fast enough, so I like storing some in the freezer to make sure it doesn't go bad.

We take several teaspoons of this syrup daily when we feel cold symptoms coming on, or when we've been exposed to sickness . . . or it also works well to take a teaspoon every day during the winter as a preventative measure!  (Just remember not to give it to babies under a year old because of the honey.)  It's really good stuff.  Last winter we were healthy from late November till early June and I truly believe this syrup had a big part in that!  So what are you waiting for?  Go find some berries and honey and make some syrup. :)  (And if you're local, let me know if you'd like any berries--we still have a few extra!  Otherwise you can buy dried ones online, or see if anyone in your area may have some to share.)

Make it From Scratch Week, Day 1: Almond Milk and Almond Flour

Between the end of summer and beginning of school, I haven't been doing well keeping up with blogging, but when I saw Money Saving Mom's "Make it From Scratch Week" challenge, I thought it would be fun to participate . . . I make a lot of stuff from scratch anyway, so it shouldn't be too much extra work (maybe :))!   Probably most of my from-scratch projects this week will be food-related, but I may be able to slip something else in there too . . . we'll see. :)

Yesterday's project was one I've been making quite a bit lately: homemade almond milk and almond flour!  I didn't think to take any step-by-step photos of the process, but it's super easy.  All you need is almonds, water, and a blender. :)  I follow the directions in this post for both the milk and flour.

Now you may be wondering why in the world I am bothering to make almond milk and flour!  No one in our family has dairy allergies and we do use regular flour.  Well, the reason is simple. :)  I recently got this very interesting book called Trim Healthy Mama (hopefully I'll write more about that in a future post), and am working my way through it (it's a HUGE book with a ton of information), and starting to implement pieces of the eating plan.  One of the recipes (actually not in the book, but found on the THM Facebook page) is for a drink called "The Shrinker" and it calls for almond milk.  I was a bit leery of all the extra "stuff" added into commercial almond milk (although I believe that extra stuff makes it have a longer life in the fridge), so I decided to try making my own.  Since you can make almond flour with the leftover almond meal after the milk is squeezed out, it's more cost-effective than just making the milk itself, and I can use the resulting flour in various baked goods instead of regular flour.  

The only change I made to the recipe in the link above was using 1/2 cup of almonds to 8 cups of water (to stretch the almonds further--they're not cheap!).  That means I also end up with maybe about 1/2 cup of almond flour when all the milk is squeezed out.  (The container in the picture above is full, but I've been adding to it every time I make more almond milk.  You would also want to note that almond milk doesn't keep long in the fridge at all, only around 3-4 days, so if you can't use it up pretty fast, you would want to make a smaller amount.  I have used some that was beginning to "turn" in waffles or pancakes, and that has worked fine, though.

In case anyone is interested in my own version of "The Shrinker" recipe--which is yummy, healthy, and promotes shrinking of fat cells!--here ya go: 

3 oolong teabags, plus 1 chai teabag, steeped in 4 cups of boiling water, along with one small cinnamon stick (steep for around 5-7 minutes, then cool completely)

Combine the resulting 4 cups of tea in a blender with 1 cup of almond milk, 1-2 teaspoons vanilla, a sprinkle of stevia (or maybe 1-2 teaspoons xylitol, truvia, etc.), a sprinkle of cayenne pepper (if you don't mind some heat :)), and a few sprinkles of sea salt (or what I use--pink Himalayan salt).  Blend it all up together and store in a mason jar in the fridge.  Drink it straight (cold or warm if you are in the mood for a hot drink), or fill a mason jar with ice and then pour the Shrinker over it (this will stretch the concentrate farther :)).  

**This post contains an Amazon affiliate link.

Early to Rise Challenge

Just a quick little post tonight . . . to get my 10th post in for this month before we are in a NEW month!! :)  This week, Crystal at Money Saving Mom posted about an Early to Rise challenge she's hosting for March.  I've been going back and forth, trying to decide if I wanted to join in or not . . . but I think I'm going to take the plunge.  The nice thing is, I can choose my own wake-up time; it's not a contest to see who can get up the earliest. :)  I've been having a terrible time getting up early lately; last week of course I had a good excuse, but now I'm hoping to get back into a better routine!

I'm setting my sights low for this month--my goal is to be up by at least 7:30 am every day.  Some of you probably are laughing right now because that is NOT early--I get that. :)  I would much rather be up by 6:30 instead . . . but I want to make this realistic and not set myself up for failure right off the bat!  My kids sleep in till 8-9 am every day, and Jim doesn't have to be at work till 9 am most days, so we tend to start our day later than many people (and end it later, too).  Anyway . . . I'm aiming for 7:30, but my ultimate goal is to work myself little by little into an earlier bedtime and wake-up time.

And now . . . since midnight is quickly approaching and the challenge starts tomorrow, I think I will go get myself to bed. :)  I'll be blogging about my progress now and then--probably not every day, but hopefully often enough to stay accountable.  If anyone wants to join me, let me know--and be sure to check out the challenge post over on Money Saving Mom!

A post a day--Dec. 29: A new health & fitness challenge

I've been trying to decide when to start on the next 8 week health & fitness challenge . . . and I've made up my mind to begin this Monday, December 31!!  This will get me off to a fresh start right at the beginning of the new year, which sounds like a good time to jump in.  I know of at least one friend joining in this time, and anyone else who would like to . . . please feel free!! The official first weigh-in will be tomorrow, Dec. 30, and the food journal tracking, etc. begins on Monday.  If you participate, you do not need to share your weight with anyone, or what you eat . . . just keep track of your own points and pounds lost, and then we share those results with each other once a week.

I'm not expecting super results for my first week since we have New Year's Eve in there, plus I haven't gotten our Christmas tree down yet, so my living room set-up isn't conducive to exercising at the moment.  Hopefully we'll get it put back to normal over the weekend, or early next week.  But I definitely need to cut back on the sugar and start food journaling again.  These are two things that help me a LOT and the sooner I get started, the better.  :)

I weighed in once this week and I had gained back about a pound over the holidays . . . we'll see how tomorrow's weigh-in goes.  The damage wasn't as bad as I expected it could be. :)  I would like to get back in better shape over the next couple months, since I've really let exercise go lately, and I know I need to ditch the sugar to help get my energy levels up.  For anyone who wants to jump into the challenge with me, here is the info I posted last time.  You can read that post and it'll save me re-posting the same info all over again. :)  I'll be using the same printables from Six Sisters' Stuff, but we are not making it a monetary challenge--although I'd love to do little prizes if I can think of something fun to do for that.

So, here we go!  If you want to join in, get your running shoes on and get ready to challenge yourself! :)

8 Week Weight Loss & Exercise Challenge

So, I have a confession to make . . . I really fell off the healthy eating/weight loss/exercise wagon over the past month or two! Thankfully I've pretty much maintained the same weight through the summer, but I haven't lost anything (and consistently kept it off) since early summer.  I am struggling with portion control and just plain laziness! ;)  I still have 3.2 lbs to get to my first goal, and I am determined to get there before the end of the year!!  It would be really sad to have planned a whole year to lose a certain amount of weight (in my case, less than 20 lbs!) and not achieve that goal!  I know I have built up more muscle than I used to have, but even with that, I should be able to take off those last 3 stubborn pounds.  I  knew I needed some more motivation, as I do better when I have something to challenge myself toward, so I went searching online again for some kind of challenge.  I came upon this 8 week challenge from Six Sisters Stuff, and it sounded just like what I wanted.

So I'm starting tomorrow and hoping to accumulate a reasonable amount of points this week!  I'm wondering if any of you would like to join me, either officially or unofficially?  All you have to do is download and print out a PDF of the weekly charts and the food journal, then keep track of your points each week.  You get points for various things like exercise, avoiding sugar, drinking water, eating fruits and veggies, etc.  If anyone wants to join in and help keep me accountable, let me know!  And if not, that is fine!  I'm hoping to update my progress here on the blog each week to help me stay motivated, too.

I'll admit I'm a little nervous that I will slack off and not stick with this challenge, which is one good reason for making it public. :)  8 weeks is a long time, but hopefully it will help me build some good habits and give me some good results, too.

Back on Track Challenge

I was excited to see that Crystal over at Biblical Womanhood is doing a “Back on Track Challenge,” as that is just what I need right now! Ever since Thanksgiving, my daily routines (such as they were!) have been messed up, what with Christmas preparations, extra activities, and vacation. So, I am really looking forward to getting back on track! The first assignment for the challenge is to establish a morning routine (and stick to it!). One of the gifts I received for Christmas was Shopping for Time, by Carolyn Mahaney and her daughters (the Girl Talk bloggers). It’s just a small, easy-to-read book, but I’ve found it to be extremely helpful and encouraging. The second chapter is about joining the “5 AM Club” (aka getting up early). This is one of my greatest struggles, so it was a pretty convicting chapter. :) Anyway, it is something I want to work toward. I know I won’t be getting up at 5 am right away, but 6 am would be a good start! Incidentally, the Mahaney ladies are currently doing a series on their blog that is adapted from Shopping for Time, if any of you want to check it out. Lots of good stuff there!!

Here is what my morning routine will look like--for now, anyway. I also need to figure out where/how to work in exercise. I’m looking at doing it before bed rather than in the morning, but that may change.

Morning Routine (hopefully to start around 6 am each day):

1. Get up/shower/get dressed
2. Wipe down bathroom
3. Quiet time/prayer
4. Breakfast
5. Unload/reload dishwasher

I plan to start this routine on Monday, as this week has been more for resting up and trying to get back in the groove, plus it works out better (for me, at least) to begin a fresh start at the beginning of a week. I’ll try and post my progress once a week for a little accountability. Anyone want to join me? :) I'm also curious: What time do most of you ladies get up? And do you have a specific morning routine? I'd love to know what works well for you!

Deck/Entry/Dining Challenge: Day 1

Well, it's time for another weekly challenge. Today hasn't been too profitable so far, but hopefully tomorrow will be better. Jim has been busy doing dirt work out in our yard with the excavator, so in between keeping the kids out of his way, and a non-napping Josiah (the noise keeps waking him up), I haven't done too much cleaning of any kind! Oh well. Anyway, here is the list of things I hope to get done this week:

*Declutter: Desk, floor, piano, bookshelves, baker's rack, table
*Dust/wash: Desk, table, piano, baker's rack, bookshelves, chairs
*Vacuum: Under table, rugs
*Wash French door glass
*Reorganize: boots/shoes, bookshelves, baker's rack, deck

That list doesn't look too long, but there is a LOT of decluttering and reorganizing to do. As you can see by these very embarrassing "before" pics!!

Living Room Challenge: Day 6--Finished!

Well, the living room deep-clean is done! Hooray! Here are some "after" pics:


Yes, our rugs look a little funny. As most of you know, our house is a work in progress, and the floor is still plywood. Someday, it will be hardwood . . . but for now we keep it covered with two hand-me-down rugs and a small braided one that I got at K-mart for $5.
Notice our awesome comfy couch that God blessed us with! I just love curling up on it. :)

Now, let's see how long it will stay neat and clean. :) I was also able to organize inside the hutch today. No pictures of that, but it's way, way better than it has been for quite a while.

I feel overwhelmed as I look at my entry/dining area. And I forgot that we also have a back entry! So I'm trying to decide whether to work on it next week too, or maybe combine it with the small bathroom that is right next to it. I guess we'll see how much time I have next week.

Living Room Challenge: Day 4/5

The living room is really looking good, and I'm happy with all I've gotten done in the past week! I'll plan to share a picture either tonight or tomorrow. The only thing I have left to do off my original list, is spot clean the rug. And I'm really hoping I can tackle the inside of the hutch tomorrow, too. It would make me feel good to have that organized. :) Today has been busy with baking bread, keeping up with the dishes, and be consistent with child training . . . something I need to focus on more than my messy house! Anyway, the rest of the house isn't looking so hot, but I'll tackle another room next week, while hopefully trying to maintain the living room too. Next week's area will be the front porch, entry, and dining room (a la Flylady). Now the entry is one of my very worst clutter areas, so this should be fun. :) I'll see if I can actually bring myself to post a "before" pic. :)

Just for fun, here's a link to the curtains we're considering for our living room. I need to make up my mind by Sept. 5th so I can get free shipping. We're thinking one panel for each window (which is the same as we have now) because they would be plenty big enough. I would also get the longest size and re-hem them, giving me a good amount of leftover fabric, which would be the most bang for my buck! I figure I could make a curtain for the kitchen, or placemats, or seat cushions for the kitchen chairs . . . so many possibilities!

I just discovered a new-to-me blog this week that I wanted to share: Simple Mom. Wow, what a neat blog. I love that she has some free downloadable charts for the home management binder, and her new e-book looks really interesting too. Check it out--lots of great stuff there!

Living Room Challenge: Day 3

No picture today, but I was able to wash my new window--it looks sooo much better!--and thoroughly vacuum one side of the room (under the windows). I also took down the spoon rack (I collect souvenir spoons), and took all the spoons off. I vacuumed and dusted the rack (it was nasty!) and washed all the spoons. The kids helped me dry them, and put them all back on the rack for me. I also used silver polish on the 6 spoons that are silver plated. Not perfect, but they look much better.

After Josiah's checkup, we went to the playground for a few minutes as a special treat. Then we headed to Walmart, where I purchased another 3-drawer cart for more toy storage. Tonight I reorganized some of the toys and was able to get rid of 2 cardboard boxes where I had been storing them. Yay! Things look neater and less junky now. I also was looking through a new Penney's catalog that we got yesterday, and found curtains that I really, really like. We've got to look over the finances this weekend and figure out if we can afford them or not. They are tab tops, like we already have, but they look a lot spiffier. :) I'll let you know what happens--our windows may have a new look in a few weeks!

On the docket for tomorrow: Finish vacuuming, spot clean the rug, and possibly tackle the inside of the hutch! Things are coming along really well.

Living Room Challenge: Day 2

Things have been coming along well in the living room! Yesterday I was able to dust almost everything (just need to do the spoon rack, which I need to take all the spoons out of first), work on reorganizing toys, and wash one window, and all the curtains. Today I washed the other 2 windows. Then Jim came home early and we ended up deciding to change the middle window, which was previously one huge sheet of glass, for a double-hung that we've been intending to put there for ages. Hooray! So I ended up with a bit more of a mess, but at least I hadn't vacuumed yet. :) Now I have another window to wash . . . and oh! how much easier and nicer it is to wash a double-hung. With tilt-in glass!!

Of course one thing led to another, and now we are in the process of replacing the large middle window in our bedroom. Might as well, since we're in the groove, right? In the meantime, a large orange excavator arrived at our house for driveway and yard work. I can see it's going to be a week (or more) of home improvements. :)