Homemade Pizza!

We love homemade pizza at our house and we usually always have the ingredients on hand. As far as the crust we seem to forget which recipe we use and just Google one or use

 which tastes just as good!

As far as toppings go:

• Usually use left over spaghetti sauce
•  Mozzarella cheese
• Peppers
• Tomatoes
• Olives

This is something we have several times a month and gives us a break from eating meat.

Spending Fast

I found this Spending Fast idea from my Sister in law and find that it is a perfect thing for me to do as well. It will go along perfectly with our goal to stay out of debt. We still are out of debt, but we haven't been doing too good on saving money. We are also planning a Disneyland trip in September so this would be great to use the extra money we save each month for that. 

So on to the Spending Fast. My sister in law got the idea from This Girl's Blog. I think it is wonderful and I don't know why I didn't think of it first. JK. So this girl did it for a full year. I am going to be more realistic and make a shorter goal for my family of 3 months and then we will go from there. In her blog she paid off debt with her spending fast, but obviously as we have already gotten out of debt we will be saving all our money from our spending fast. 

So going off her list I can skip the first 2 steps of Listing Debt and Asking Creditors to lower rates. (I recommend looking at her site Here). I've done step 3, Picture the Life you Dream of Living, many times and of course we have already done step 4, Make the Commitment to Be Done with Debt. My husband, as usual, is all for it for step 5, Try to Get Them to do the Spending Fast with you. I've set the initial time frame, for step 6, for 3 months, but I may make it longer. I am doing step 7 now, Making a Public Declaration. Now on to step 8:

Needs List:

Rent
Utilities
Tithing
Internet Bill
Car Insurance
Medical Insurance
Dental Insurance
Cell Phone
WorldMark Maintenance Fee
Daughter's gymnastics
Groceries
Gas
Emergency Prep (we've budgeted out an amount each month to build up our 72 hour kits)


Wants List:

Eating Out
Gifts
Date Nights
Deals I see and usually buy
Misc Random Stuff
Clothing (I love to buy the girls clothes. It's usually on sale, but it always adds up)
Books (I've been really wanting to buy Nook books, but I will stick with the library-It's free!)
Netflix


Step 9 is to spend money on the Needs list only. Step 10 is to Think About what you can buy rather than what you can't, especially in discouraging times. Step 11 she suggests Becoming Immersed in a Community of Like-Minded People. On step 12 instead of Attacking My Debt I will be sending all my money into savings at the end of each month. Step 13 & 14 is to Be Committed and Continue to the end date. And of course step 15 is to Be Proud of yourself and what you've accomplished.

My family will be starting this February 1st and I am super excited. A few things that I've thought about are what about birthday gifts and dates? Well as she mentions that they will all be homemade or re-gifting gifts. I think for most it's important that people recognize it, so a card will just have to do this year. As for dates we still have numerous gift cards left over from our birthdays last year and Christmas, so we will be using those!

Wish us luck :)

Graceling Series

I just finished reading the Graceling Series by Kristin Cashore. These are young adult fantasy books. Out of my obsessive reading lately these books were my favorite. The series starts with Graceling and the sequel is Bitterblue with Fire as a companion book in the middle.

"Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight-she's a Graceling, on of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As a niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king's thug. When she first meets Prince Po, Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change. She never expects to become Po's friend. She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace-or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away...a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone."

My Thoughts:
I seriously loved this book from the start. I fell in love with Katsa immediately, since she is a strong female character. I felt like this book was something new and very entertaining to read. I thought it was a really good read and would most definitely recommend it. I think it may be at the top of my favorites. And it is my favorite out of the 3.

"It is not a peaceful time in the Dells. In King City, the young King Nash is clinging to the throne, while rebel lords in the north and south build armies to unseat him. War is coming. And the mountains and forest are filled with spies and thieves. This is where Fire lives, a girl whose beauty is impossible irresistible and who can control the minds of everyone around her. Exquisitely romantic, this companion to the highly praised Graceling has an entirely new cast of characters, save for on person who plays a pivotal role in both books. You don't need to have read Graceling to love Fire. But if you haven't, you'll be dying to read it next."


My Thoughts:

I had a hard time getting into this book because I could not stand the main character. It was not written bad in any way. It was just in fact his actual character that really bothered me. However, once I got over that I started to really enjoy this book as well. It contained a lot of new content that I really enjoyed getting into. I would recommend it for sure and I like that it is a companion book, so you don't necessarily have to read Graceling first.

"Eight years after Graceling, Bitterblue is now queen of Monsea. But the influence of her father, a violent psychopath with mind-altering abilities, lives on. Her advisors, who have run things since Leck died, believe in a forward-thinking plan: Pardon all who committed terrible acts under Leck's reign, and forget anything bad ever happened. But when Bitterblue begins sneaking outside the castle--disguised and alone--to walk the streets of her own city, she starts realizing that the kingdom has been under the thirty-five-year spell of a madman, and the only way to move forward is to revisit the past. Two thieves, who only steal what has already been stolen, change her life forever. They hold a key to the truth of Leck's reign. And one of them, with an extreme skill called a Grace that he hasn't yet identified, holds a key to her heart."

My Thoughts:

This book was perfect for my need for a little more. I loved how it tied all the characters together and gave me the little ending I needed. It was also very entertaining and kept you intrigued throughout the entire book. I would recommend this book as well.

Vegetarian Ceviche

We made a Vegetarian Ceviche last week (and again last night) and I am officially in love. I got the full recipe here-Mine is below. My Mother in law made it for me the first time I tried it and we decided to try it ourselves last week. -Good Choice!

We used only 1 jalapeno (Didn't want it too hot for the kids)
We also didn't use the hearts of palm (although I've had it that way and it's pretty good) *Too expensive to buy 
We also put ours on tostada shells with refried beans.

How I made it:

2 tomatoes, diced

1/4 of large red onion, diced

1/2 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped

1 jalapeno, diced

Juice from 2 limes (Also used it out of the bottom last night-tastes the same)

1 tablespoon olive oil

salt & pepper to taste 

avocado, diced

cucumber, diced

Bell pepper, diced

*All you do is chop everything up and mix it together. Heat up some refried beans to spread across the tostada and add ceviche on top. Super easy and yummy. We all love it including my kids. This one will definitely be made regularly.

5.5 Miles

My husband will often go to Sprouts Market to get some yummy fruits & veggies and will take the girls in the jogging stroller. It never seemed like it was that far - the hardest part is the hill. So when he mentioned going yesterday and not taking the car, so he can get his run in I thought why don't I go with him? I've been feeling fat and haven't been doing any workout lately, so this sounded like a great idea. WELL...turns out that this "little jog" to the market is actually 5.5 miles round trip and of course my husband is all about pushing limits and doing your best. So of course I had to job the majority of the way and ALL the way up the hill. This of course would've been a lot better experience if I was in some short of physical shape, but I have honestly not ran for at least 2 months now and can hardly ever find time to do any work out. We made it home in one piece and surprisingly I felt okay. However, just like always when I push myself, without preparation, my body starts to shut down and feel sick. So to bed I went at 7:30 pm with ibuprofen instead of dinner. On a more happy note: I woke up this morning :) and once I got my green smoothie in my body I feel great!

September Menu

September Menu

This is the first month I’ve done it this way, so I'm sure there will be some editing to future months.

I first went over all our schedules (mine, hubs, and girls) then planned

out a type of dinner that would work best each night.

Monday: Simple (something I could make and Shaun could take to school)
*Hubs takes 4yr old to gymnastics this night and then goes straight to class*

Tuesday: Crockpot
*We are both gone all day and get home right before dinner*

Wednesday: Lite
*I go to Zumba this night, so I want to eat something super lite when I get
home*

Thursday: Pre-made
*We are both gone all day, so I’d like to have something previously made and
frozen that we can just toss in the oven*

Friday: Husband's choice
*He is home before I get off work, so he gets to decide and make dinner*

Saturday: Out or leftovers
*We usually are out and about this day, so we get to decide to eat out or
leftovers* (We don’t eat out more then twice a month and usually use some
kind of coupon.)

Sunday: -
*I don’t plan anything because we go to in-laws a lot this day or we are
starving because we get out of church at 2 and then aren’t hungry for dinner*

Next I got out a calendar and planned different meals for the days of the
week that we’d be home. There were a few days that we had special events
or knew we’d be gone that night, so I didn’t plan meals for those. So when I
got done I had; for example, 4 Monday meals, 5 Tuesday, 3 Wednesday…and I
also planned special things like desserts for after family night. I also wanted to start making breakfast on Sunday mornings, so I planned those out
as well.

Mondays:
Corn & Zucchini Quesadillas
BBQ Chicken Ranch Wraps
Bean & Cheese Burritos
BBQ Chicken Salad

Tuesdays:
BBQ Chicken Crockpot meal
Potato Soup
Chicken Fajitas
Enchilada Soup

Wednesdays:
Homemade Pizzas
Spaghetti Squash w/marinara sauce
Stack Dinners

Thursdays:
Enchiladas
Pasta Bake (which was awful!)
Sweet & Sour Chicken & Rice
Taco Soup

Fridays:
Red Beans & Rice
Pork, veggie, & fruit
Hamburger Spins

Sunday Breakfasts:
Pancake Bites
Cinnamon Rolls & Fruit
Crepes

Family Night Desserts:
Baked Churros
Brownies
Arroz con leche

After that I went through all the recipes and made a list of ingredients I would
need. I wrote out all the ingredients and then went through my kitchen and
crossed off the stuff I already had. I finished up my list adding breakfast
stuff to the list (cereal, oatmeal…) and lunch stuff and then the usual (bread,
milk, eggs, fruit) and I planned a store trip when my hubby could watch our
youngest and went to the store! I picked up most things for the entire month. We made a few extra trips for fruit & veggies and then I didn't plan well for my daughter's bday, so I had to get stuff for that. Total for the month we spent $266 for our family of four.

This may sound like it took a long time, but the planning was like maybe 2
hours on a Sunday afternoon. (recipes of things I hadn’t previously made I got
from pinterest, so those were all in one place and easy to look up) And I made sure I went to the store on a separate day, so I wasn’t too overwhelmed or exhausted.

Here are pictures of our meals:

Red Beans & Rice w/Squash and Zucchini

Breakfast: Cinnamon Rolls w/Fruit

Chicken Fajitas

Pork Chops, Potatoes, & Veggies

Homemade Pizza

Corn & Zucchini Quesadillas

Pasta & Salad

BBQ Chicken Salad

Sweet & Sour Chicken w/Rice and Cabbage & Carrots

Taco Soup

Dairy...Not for Us

Then

I never liked to drink milk. I stopped all together when I was younger; didn't even drink it on my cereal. Naturally, I became lactose intolerant. I was never completely dairy free because of my love for ice cream and ranch dressing:) so basically I'd eat those two things and get sick. Most people thought I was odd. (I've soon discovered it is in fact opposite and that they are the weird ones for still drinking milk.) However, when I got married my husband got me hooked on cheese. Not just any cheese-only Tillamook cheese, the good stuff, and so I started eating nachos, quesadillas, bean and cheese burritos along with my ice cream and ranch dressing...

Now

We will be cutting dairy out of our diet completely (We've haven't bought cow milk for months-Almond Breeze has worked perfect for cereal and cooking). My husband, me, and my two girls will be much healthier for it!

How we came to this

My husband and I have been doing a bit more research in our progression to eat healthier. We've known for awhile that dairy wasn't good for us. (My Mother-in-law would remind us constantly-thank you) I've noticed we, Americans, are the only ones who still drink milk as adults. I've heard different things about dairy throughout researching and that it will cause this sort of disease, but then hear another argument to contradict that one. And it's all a bit of confusing. Who the heck do you believe?! We decided to believe the one that makes the most sense to us. A friend let me borrow a book The Beauty Detox Solution. (I would recommend this book-gives some great tips and good research) I've been reading it and along with my husband's research we came to this decision. It wont be easy at first, but I think it will be beneficial long term. Along with the fact that dairy already makes me sick, here are a few other reasons why we've decided to stop:

-All mammals drink milk from their mothers. We are all weaned off from our Mothers within the first few years of our life and move to other foods that provide the nutrition needed. This is natural. What is not natural is that we've moved to cow's milk. Baby cows don't even drink their mother's milk anymore yet we do. Sick...

-Dangerous protein in dariy-Casein. This is very difficult for our bodies to break down. This is the one animal protein that seems to promote cancer. Dairy also produces too much mucus for our bodies that can harden and line the walls of our intestines making it super hard to digest. 

-There are other foods that can give us the needed calcium and they all have other great nutrients in them as well.  

-Much of our dairy today is packed with hormones and drugs because of the demands of producing it commercially. Dairy products are also heated to kill any potential bacteria which is also killing any natural enzymes making digesting even more difficult.

-The mass production of dairy cows is awful and sicking if you were to see it firsthand. 

I've been kind and vague with these reasons, but if you do any research yourself you will be surprised and what you find. I promise you will question yourself whether or not you should be taking it out of your diet. And no wonder my body has such a hard time digesting it-it just makes sense!