Dairy Products and Mucus: Chocolate Silk from Whole Foods

You hear all the time about the correlation between dairy products and being all snotty. Not snotty in attitude, but in mucus. Since Sam has been congested since birth and is almost 4 months old now, and since I seem to have all kinds of drainage going on (sorry to gross you out), I have been cutting down on dairy, and it seems to be helping. Maybe it's wishful thinking. Maybe it's true.

Either way, I tried out Chocolate Silk (soy milk) and we all loved it. I just wish I could afford the 3 bucks a half gallon 10 times a week, because we would all just suck this drink down. Do you ever picture tiny soybeans with boobs being milked? And how about little grains of rice being milked for Rice Milk? No? Must just be me. Huh.

Did you know you can do a tour at Whole Foods grocery stores? You get to try out stuff to see if you like it before you commit to buying a full-size version of it. I'm gonna set up that field trip for my homeschool group (most of whom probably already shop there cuz a bunch of them are crunchy). I may have to take up stripping to pay for more healthy food for my family, but we all have trade-offs, right?

Just kidding, Dad.

Meal Plan for When My Guy is Out of Town

As evidenced by the popularity of LifeAsMom.com, people really seem to dig saving money and knowing what other people eat. In honor of LifeAsMom.com, I am sharing with you my ultra-healthy, no-processed-foods (yeah, right) meal plan for the week Aron was out of town recently. Keep in mind this sort of meal plan saves me from hitting the fast food drive through like a crack pipe, therefore saving me money.

Monday
breakfast: pancakes and sausage
lunch: ravioli in a can for the kids with garlic bread; Smart Ones and a salad for me
dinner: Tuna Helper

Tuesday
breakfast: cereal
lunch: fish sticks and mandarin oranges
dinner: Pizza Hut (2 free small ones from Book-It program)

Wednesday
breakfast: cream of wheat
lunch: pizza leftovers and fruit
dinner: Hamburger Helper

Thursday
breakfast: ham and cheese quiche
lunch: corn dogs, apples, oranges
dinner: clam chowder, carrots

Friday
breakfast: cereal
lunch: grilled cheese with lunchmeat
dinner: cheese hot dogs wrapped in crescent rolls, fruit

Snacks:
string cheese
chocolate graham crackers
bologna
carrots
pretzels
granola bars
yogurt

Miss, You've Saved Too Much Money

Last weekend I saved too much money at the grocery store and an override had to be done. It rocked. I took advantage of my Chopper Shopper card, actually cut coupons and had a raincheck for Weight Watchers Smart Ones. I usually like shopping at Aldi since I save more money there, but when I HAVE to go to Price Chopper for the better apples and oranges and some other choice stuff, I hate walking out spending $300 and needing help out with my two carts.

If I were rich, I would get my groceries delivered. Hell, I'd have all my MEALS delivered.

Do you enjoy grocery shopping, or is it a necessary evil? Do you like the thrill of the SAVE by using coupons? Should I join Sam's Club? Should I join Overeaters Anonymous?

Freaky Things We Do Re-Post

Short on time for posting this week, so here is an old post from 2008 that talks about the freaky things we do as a family. Enjoy!

Recipe: Pumpkin Pancakes

This is a great recipe for using up any cans of pumpkin you have laying around from Thanksgiving. Or maybe you are one of those freaks who cooks from FRESH pumpkin (just kidding ... I admire you). Either way, these rock. And kids will probably dig 'em.

Pumpkin Pancakes

1 cup flour
3 T sugar
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
3/4 t cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg
1 egg
1 cup plain low-fat yogurt (or sour cream)
1/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
2 T butter, melted and cooled, plus 1 T for the skillet

I'm assuming ya'll know how to cook a pancake, so this is the basic recipe for what to mix together.

Beat the egg til fluffly, then add yogurt, pumpkin and 2 T melted butter and beat well. Stir in dry ingredients and mix until combined. Cook those pancakes in a hot buttered skillet!

Forever Changed by the NICU

I really appreciate my dad for taking this video, but I want to know when I'm going to be able to watch it without crying? How do people handle life so well and move on when their baby is in the NICU for months? My heart goes out to all of you. I took life for granted, but not so much anymore.

Hoarders

Has anyone seen this show yet? My mom taped it for me. We thought it would be interesting and funny. It’s interesting, but certainly not funny. It’s very sad.

I was on my way to becoming a hoarder once. My apartment had cat crap in the spare bedroom when I was single, I had Cosmopolitan magazines going back for years, and the list goes on and on. I had about 5 times the clothing I have now.

The more kids I had, the more of my own stuff I got rid of, and the easier it was to sort through their stuff and get rid of some of it. These days I have a small closet with my maternity AND regular wardrobe in it. I have very few books anymore.

Most of my clutter nowadays is old journal papers … thousands of them. My dream is to someday transcribe all the papers from my handwriting to computer and have a big old bonfire (after I back up all the files on an external hard drive or two, of course).

And I feel free.

I just read Candy Spelling’s book and I think she’s a total hoarder … even though she calls them “collections” and has pondered the hoarding issue. I’m interested to see what she does with all her crap when her 73,000 square feet (including the attic) of crap-holding space turns into 17,000 when she moves.

Do you or someone you know have any hoarding issues? Yeah, like you're really gonna tell ME!