It's been a while!

I haven't updated in a while. It's been partially on purpose. I wanted to get through a month of low carb before updating my findings. It was also partially laziness.

So, for the month of October I did low carb. It was not as bad as I thought it would be. There are a lot of healthy aspects to it and I learned a lot. I read A LOT of different books. It was very informative. The first 3-5 days were horrible, I was ready to quit, but told myself I would do it at least a week. My main motivation was all the money I spent on low carb books. After those first few days, it was fine. But, by the end of the month, I was bored with it. The cookbooks are great and I will continue to use them. However, we enjoy eating out once or twice a week. At least one of those times, I enjoy eating whatever I want. On low carb, when you do that, it seems to mess with your weight loss. So, I decided that low carb was not for me, but good carbs are. Which is basically what I was doing previously.

I did try my hand at baking different low carb goodies. Some were good (pancakes & waffles) and some were bad (bread). Low carb baking uses a lot of ground almonds, which are good and good for you. It also uses a lot of protein powder, which is not that tasty. I don't mind it in my shakes, but it's not so tasty in bread. One thing I discovered and love is Fauxtatoes. This is cauliflower, steamed and pureed in the food processor. It is soooooooooooooo yummy! We all enjoy this.

I'd like to say I went off low carb and right back on my healthy eating plan. But that is not the case. It's been a slippery slope for me the past 3 weeks, I've been eating very unhealthy. I feel pretty crappy from it too. At least I've been working out. So, I've got to stop being lazy and start making healthy goodies for us. I've been buying Goldfish and Animal crackers for E. *bag over head* I will be making some granola bars from the Healthy Hillbilly Housewife site. It calls for applesauce and I'm going to make some homemade. I'll use some of it for the bars and the rest with pork chops. Yummy! And I'm not even a huge apple fan.

Last month my food processor took a crap, so I got a new one. A REALLY NICE Kitchenaid one. It works sooooo much nicer than my old one. I love it and I think it will last quite a long time. I also got a waffle maker to make low carb hamburger buns (which weren't bad), but it also makes good waffles. :)

I've also joined a gym since my last post. It's a woman's gym, about .5 a mile from us. It's really nice, much nicer than the one I belonged to in San Diego. My goal is to go M/W/F. The past couple of weeks have been rough, due to my laziness, but I'll be back on schedule this week. I'm doing weight machines and cardio. E didn't like the play center too much at first, but I think he's getting used to it.

Maintenance cleaning has been going well. We finally got all the thrift store boxes picked up, it's nice to have them gone. I cleaned up in E's room yesterday. Mostly put away a lot of toys. Vacuuming has been more bi-weekly than weekly. Bathrooms need to be done this week. Otherwise, things look good.

I finally got my covestich machine out of the box and set up. I threaded it, practiced for about 30 sec and then it came unthreaded. Those of you with a serger know how frustrating it can be to rethread, not get a chain, rethread, not get a chain, etc. Yah, I did that for a bit and had to walk away. That was last weekend and I haven't been back yet. I also got my serger rethreaded and made some napkins for E. I am finally just about done with my crochet food swap. I will finish it up today and get it out tomorrow. I had an accident with it during this past week, some soda got spilled on my bag. So, while it was drying, I started on a pair of longies for E. Ooooo, I love them! The yarn (which I got from Rebecca on Diva Designs) is just beautiful. Even Ryan likes it. The legs are taking quite a while. I finished one up last night. The pattern suggests 6" for size M. But E needed 11". Sixty rows of leg.

Today and tomorrow I will be finishing up my transcription for week 8 of this semester. School is almost over! Next semester looks like it will be much more difficult. These past 2 weeks have been nice, because week 8 has been spread out over them, due to the holidays. Next week it will be back to the grind.

Well, I think that's all for now. I'll be updating on a more regular basis now. I've missed it. :)

Is it bad...

When you're lazy about posting in your blog? I am on the computer enough during the day, you would think I could take 10 minutes and post. One of the reasons I have not been posting is eating has been bad. I guess I should not say bad. Eating has been fairly unhealthy. This was not the month I had planned on it being. Although I already knew it, it has now been reinforced. If there are M&M's, Doritos and ice cream in the house, I will eat them. And not in moderation. If they are not here, I may THINK about eating them, but I will not be eating them. And after the urge passes, I will be glad I did not eat them.

I have not done a whole lot in the way of cooking either. Oh, I've been making dinner, but nothing fancy. I have not even finished the crackers yet. And I also want to make some granola for E.

I hope to get out of this funk shortly. I miss posting about my escapades in the kitchen. Oh, I did make a loaf of WW Potato bread the other day. I've been using it this week, mainly for Ryan's lunch. E does not like it. If I put peanut butter on it, he eats off the part with PB. If I give it to him plain, he (the ultimate insult!) puts it in the dogs bowl! The dog ate it all just fine though. I made it on the rapid cycle, so I don't think it tastes as well.

Ryan and I will be venturing into new eating grounds this next week. Well, Ryan has done low carb in the past for short periods of time. I will be doing moderated carbs. I have read a couple of books. The plan seems doable and makes sense. If it will help me curb my cravings and lose weight, I am ready to give it a try. We won't be getting a lot of fruits, but there will be plenty of veggies. I already have 3 cookbooks, with about 3 or 4 more on the way. Oh, plus I'll be ordering one more for the slow cooker in a couple of days. I didn't really go that overboard though, as most of the books came from PaperbackSwap.com. The recipes in the books look very good. My one book even has bread recipes. For the bread machine! I am pretty excited about that. It seems that nut flours (I can make myself) and other non-flour whole grains are used in moderation. I really think the plan is livable and healthy.

I have to mention my newest addiction:





This site is awesome! You post up books you don't want, members request them, you get points once the member gets them and then you request books. Right now, if you put up 9 books to start, you get 3 free credits to use right away. This policy will be changing a little soon, but it's still a good deal. Out of the 9 I put up a week or so ago, 7 have already been requested. I really love books and will be putting more up soon.

Last week, I did not get the floors vacuumed or the bathrooms cleaned. This Thursday for sure. Gee, is that tomorrow already? Upkeep cleaning has been going on a regular basis.

Exercise has been pretty non-existent. Ryan and I were talking about this the other day. He says my desire (and his) to not exercise is stronger than our desire to exercise and that's why neither of us are exercising, though we talk about it a lot. I need to quit making excuses and make exercise important to me. He is right, if it was very important to me, I would make it happen.

Classes started this week. This week is basically just orientation type stuff. All my books came last Friday and they are a bit intimidating. All this medical terminology. It's also very interesting and I'm excited to be learning it.

A relaxing sort of day.

So far anyways. I am so tired, I don't want to do anything. I think I will put off vacuuming and bathrooms until tomorrow.

The Honey Glazed Chicken, from HHW, was a success last night. It was good and if I make it again, I will cut back on the ketchup for the marinade. I put too much salt on the brussel sprouts, but they were still good.

Seeing as I am so tired this morning, I didn't really feel like cooking breakfast. So, I had leftover black bean soup with a slice of leftover French Toast. E had leftover French toast and strawberries. He had also already had cheese and grapes in his Snack Trap while we were taking Ryan to work.

Instead of making goldfish crackers yesterday, I made up some pizza dough and cut it into cracker shape. I used the Japanese cookie cutters Stephanie sent me. I did a whole tray full, plus about 4 thin pretzels and I still have a ton of dough left. They are very plain tasting, but E likes them and Ryan does too. Ryan tried some yesterday with some soft cheese, so I sent some in his lunch today.

I must say I am really liking the Laptop Lunchbox. It makes lunch making so much easier. I originally bought two so I could have one, but we never go anywhere, so I never use mine for myself. Usually in the morning Ryan empties out his backpack and puts his lunchbox on the counter to be cleaned. Since we have two, I just use the clean one in the AM and then wash the dirty one with the breakfast dishes. It works out great. When we were using just the sandwich packs, I had to wash them every morning, it was a pain. Today I will have to wash both the lunchboxes b/c Ryan left his backpack at work. Oh well.

We are having Buffalo Wild Wings tonight. On Thursdays they have 40 cent boneless wings. I am going to make "fries" at home. Just red potatoes cut up, tossed with olive oil, oregano and salt. Tasty, a bit healthier for you and cheaper than BWW fries. :)

Today I may make more crackers. It all depends on if I take a nap while E is napping, which I am seriously considering.

I forgot to mention yesterday that over the weekend I did get all the pieces cut out for the Madison bag. It is pretty much ready to sew. I am almost done with my most recent crochet project. Which is good b/c I have stuff to start working on for a swap and a trade. Fortunately it is all the same stuff and it's easy and fun to make.

Well, that's about it for today, nothing exciting.

Not every day, but

Not Friday either. lol It was another weekend of not a lot of healthy stuff. We really need to find a way to break this cycle! I know we will soon because Ryan is going to be starting very low-carb here soon to get ready for PRT.

Otherwise, it's been a fairly healthy week. Last night I made black bean soup. It was VERY good. I used dry black beans (no cans!). All it was was black beans, carrots, onion, garlic and water. Oh some veggie chicken flavor bouillon and other seasonings. I let it cook for about 3 hours, then pureed it in the food processor. That thickened it up. Almost too much, but man, it was good! I also added some ham in at the end. I made a quick cycle loaf of bread to go with it. This was my first time making all white bread. It was really good. I used the quick cycle white bread recipe from Hillbilly Housewife.

Tonight is going to be chicken. Curry, honey or BBQ. Not sure which yet. :) I will probably serve it with brussel sprouts. I have always loved brussel sprouts and they way I prepare them now is the best. Cut the brussel sprouts in half, toss them with olive oil, course sea salt and maybe some oregano (or whatever seasoning you like). Bake in the oven and YUMMY. Ryan loves these too. I got that recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance.

I make breakfast potatoes the same was as brussel sprouts. Except I make them smaller than half! They are soooooooooooo good. E will eat these up and ask for more each time. I've been using red potatoes b/c that's what I have, but sweet potatoes are also very good and better for you.

This morning I used up the rest of the loaf of bread and made French Toast. It was my first time ever making it and it was very good. I used a recipe from About.com. I had to reconstitute a cup of dry milk. It was kind of weird, but worked fine. E loved, loved this! He ate up what I gave him and asked for more. I wasn't sure if he was going to like it, but he did.

I still have not made the vegan goldfish crackers or brownies. I am totally slacking here. I am almost out of oatmeal bars, so I'm going to have to break down and do the crackers already. E likes to have snacks!

So, I've been doing some research since Ryan will be starting low-carb soon. He knows that I do not agree with the Atkin's approach of such restricted carbs. But he wants my support and I will give it to him. I started looking for cookbooks, so I can make dinners we all can share. While researching cookbooks, I've discovered some interesting stuff about controlled-carbs diets. It was interesting enough for me to get a couple of books to learn more. So, we'll see. I wouldn't mind cutting back on certain carbs.

I've been doing good on up keeping with cleaning. Thursday is my vacuuming day. I think it's about time to clean the bathrooms again too. Everything else has just been daily upkeep. Laundry, dishes, picking up, etc.

Uhoh! E just requested some granola and that is it for my oatmeal bars. Guess I'll have to do some kind of baking today. lol :)

It's Friday Again!!

I can't believe it's been a week since my last post. My goal is to keep this blog updated on a daily or every-other-day basis.

I have to say last weekend was a huge bomb foodwise. We ate out the whole weekend and it wasn't healthy. This weekend should be better, we don't have as much $ to spend! lol

This week was good. I didn't get in a lot of exercise, but the meals were all healthy. I want to share with you what have been big hits here in my home since I started making our own bread and snacks.

Toddler Approved

1. Oatmeal Bars from the Laptop Lunchbox book. E loves these. They are similar to store bought granola bars, just not as crunchy. He likes them plain or topped with natural PB.
2. Pretzels/breadsticks made from WW pizza dough. Ethan loves these too!
3. Lentil soup with dumplings. E just ate this up and wanted more! He liked the dumplings and the lentils.
4. Rotisserie chicken. Another big hit. He even likes it with hot sauce on it!
5. Granola. I've been making granola from the Hillbilly Housewife site. Mix in some raisins and E is good to go.

Husband approved

1. Whole wheat rolls. I stopped making bread loaves b/c these rolls cover everything. I use them for Ryan's breakfast sandwich. I also use them for mini sandwiches in his Laptop Lunchbox. They are a big hit, from the Hillbilly Housewife site.
2. Pretzels/breadsticks. Ryan liked these a lot as well. He and E ate the vast majority of them. Ryan even suggested putting some cinnamon and sugar on the next batch for a sweet, whole wheat treat. Good idea!
3. Rotisserie chicken and homemade plantains. I've always bought the frozen ones and did fresh ones last night for the first time. They tasted much better and Ryan loved them too. I am going to look for ways to make them healthier.
4. Lentil soup and dumplings. Although Ryan liked the dumplings better.

I made some awesome French bread. It's from the HHW site. I used 3 cups unbleached wheat flour and one cup WW flour. It came out very good. I think I'll up the WW flour next time. I made a grilled cheese sandwich with it yesterday and it was very good.

Tonight I'll be making pizza. Homemade WW crust, canned sauce (my last can!), turkey pepperoni, Bella mushrooms, onions, garlic and cheese. We enjoyed this a lot the last time I made it. E loves pizza. He was asking for it the other day. His tongue comes out of his mouth trying to say the z's and it's really cute. :)

I still have not made the goldfish crackers. Or the brownies, both from the Vegan Lunchbox. My goal is to do them this weekend. Ryan asks about every other day if I made the brownies yet. I also plan on making more pretzels. This time I will use the table to roll them out and hopefully make them a little thinner. I'll do plain, salted and cinn/sugar ones. Yesterday I made more rolls. Today I'll make more granola.

Although we've been eating out WAY to much and it's all processed stuff, I have been keeping to my goal of eating not much processed stuff at home. It is nice going to the grocery store and not having a cart full of prepared foods. It does require some extra effort at home, but it makes me feel really good knowing I made the food.

BTW, I just want to mention how much I like the HHW site. I was cruising through her recipes last night and saw so many I want to try. I actually bought dry milk today! Some of her recipes call for it and we don't drink milk here, so I got it for cooking.

Oh, I also dug my food processor out of the thrift store boxes. I had hardly used it in the past and decided to get rid of it. Than I started reading recipes that use it and decided I needed to get it back out and keep it. lol :)

I've been doing good on keeping up on cleaning. The sewing room is done. I need to get my serger threaded, clean and tested so I can sell it. Than I need to tackle my coverstitch machine, which is still in the box. It does serging and coverstitch. I also need to clean and fool around with my new vintage machine. My regular sewing machine has not been unpacked yet and I think it's in a box in our room. I technically can sew now, since my embroidery machine is unpacked. Maybe I'll start on the AB Madison Bag this weekend. I've been doing crocheting and finished a project last Sunday, that I had to frog. That stinks, but I do plan on finishing it again this weekend. I am doing a trade with someone for crochet food and got two new fruits and veggies patterns from Etsy. I also got a cute Lil' Spookies pattern. Before I do that though I want to get started on the Molly Weasly sweater. I have quite a few projects to get going on! This was much more fun to talk about than cleaning!! :)

Oh! I forgot I have pictures.

Ryan's typical Laptop Lunch



Peanut butter is a pain to clean out of a container, but if it gets him eating fruit, I'll do it. I love these little bento containers. They're perfect for PB. I also love the closed condiment holders, also good for PB and butter.

Inari Sushi



I was very excited to try this and did not like it. The tofu shells have a sweet taste to them and I just didn't care for it. But it was worth trying.

And just because he's so cute!



Awww! :)

It's Friday!

And that doesn't really mean much to your average housewife. Or not to this one anyways. When you're work is taking care of the house and the baby, it's a 24/7 job pretty much. Oh, I may get to sleep in or take a long nap over the weekend, and that is great, but it's not having a day off. :) No complaints here though. :)

This has been the week of terrible dinners for me. Yesterday I had dinner totally prepared before I went to pick Ryan up. I got to his work around 430, to avoid traffic. He was supposed to get off around 5 or so. He got off at 830. Yes, I was on base for 4 hours. So, E & I ate dinner at McD's. Ryan was good and ate spaghetti when we got home.

I did not get everything done on my to-do list yesterday, so some of it rolled over to today. The pretzels took longer than anticipated to make. I made oatmeal bars this morning. They are move like granola bars and are really good. I printed out the vegan goldfish recipe, but I have some unexpected errands to run after E's nap, so not sure if I'll get to them today.

Tonight for dinner will be spaghetti. I'll have to redo the garlic bread, as it went a little yucky sitting in the over waiting to be cooked. Besides that, everything is ready.

Not much to talk about today. I am a little tired. E is sleeping and I am considering taking a short nap.

I finally get to sit down!

It's been a busy day so far. I managed to stay off the computer until about 10 or so. Then I spent about a half hour here while E had a snack and watched "trains" (Thomas). :)

Today started with getting up. :) Then fixing dh's breakfast and lunch. Get E and I ready to go, walk the dog, take dh to work. Get home, fix our breakfast (I normally cook us eggs), eat, clean dishes by hand. Then I swept the kitchen, picked up the apt and vacuumed, including E's room, since it is now clean and set up. Oh, I also stripped the sheets of our bed and started laundry during this. I gave E a bath. Took a break. Folded diapers, started rice steamer for lunch, put E down for nap, did some more laundry. While rice was cooking, started pizza dough in bread machine. It is going to be pretzels and bread sticks. The rice finished, I made sushi inari, from the Vegan Lunch Box. I used the rest of the rice to make 3 small rice molds for E and one larger one for me. Also steamed broccoli and carrots. Ate lunch. Cleaned dishes. Oh, my big cleaning today is cleaning the garbage can. I have never cleaned the inside of this garbage can. It's not usually something that's important to me, but for some reason I decided to do it today. I didn't scrub the inside, but I used the diaper sprayer and citrus spray to get it fairly clean. I also cleaned the outside and the lid. Woot! :)

Now I'm taking another break while E's sleeping. Still left for today is taking pictures of FS stuff, making oatmeal bars, get package mailed, shower and prepping for dinner.

We ate out again last night, but it wasn't too bad. I ate pretty lightly during the day yesterday. We had Chili's to-go. I had their Buffalo Chicken Salad. It's my favorite Chili's dish. I shared with E and only used a very small amount of dressing. I almost opted for the ribs, so I'm proud I went with the salad.

I used out Laptop Lunchbox for Ryan today. Although I've used parts of it since we got them, this was the first time using it as a whole. I took a pic and will be posting it later. I also took a pic of my sushi inari lunch.

I was really down on Weight Watchers yesterday. I want to clarify that though I do disagree with some of their program, it is a good program, especially if you have no clue of how to eat healthy or keep track of what you're eating. The WW program will make you more conscientious of how and what you're eating, which is a good thing.

Tomorrow I plan on making the vegan goldfish crackers. Tonight for dinner is spaghetti (whole wheat pasta) with store bought sauce (my last jar) that I will be adding to with squash, kale, garlic and onions. Plus some soy crumbles and home made french bread, that I will be making garlic bread with. Yum!

Ok, I'm feeling better now..

I was just feeling down and sorry for myself a few minutes ago. I am not going to do WW and I have a list of reasons why.

1. I am not doing this just to lose weight, I am doing it for a healthy lifestyle.
2. WW focuses more on calories than on eating more whole foods. IE, for the Core plan, FF milk
yogurt and cheese are recommended. I personally prefer light or whole because they have
less fillers. It also seems that the lower calorie foods are more processed. Since I am trying
to get away from processed foods, my foods may be higher calories, but healthier. On Flex, I
dislike that fruits and veggies count as points. I know they have calories too, but I didn't get
fat b/c I overdid it on the fruits and veggies.
3. What I don't like about the Core plan is no bread and rice & pasta can only be once a day. I
can understand about the bread b/c it has sweeteners and other stuff in it. Still, I think
whole wheat bread with simpler ingredients is good for you. I sweeten mine with honey instead of sugar. Also brown rice is good for you. Why limit to one meal a day? Not that I usually have brown rice twice a day, but if I want to, I will.

So, those are my reasons for not following WW exactly. I want to be focused on healthy living with more whole foods and less processed ones. TBH, I am hungry quite a bit when following the WW plan. I think it's b/c of the reasons listed above.

I will continue my journey, one day at a time.

Well, well

Yesterday was good until dinner. We went to Red Lobster and called it our anniversary dinner. I ate what I liked, but did choose brocolli over fries. I am just feeling like a total failure here though. I was going to whine about it, but I'm not. I got back on track this morning.

I am thinking of following the Weight Watchers plan again. I just can't decide between the Core and Flex plans. And I am afraid of what I may have to give up to follow either. I am scared that I won't be able to do it. I think Core is the best though because it focuses on whole grains, lean proteins, fruits and veggies. This whole past weekend has scared and worried me. I feel like I have no control over what I eat. Or I can control it, but if the opportunity is there for me to eat non-healthy, I take it. I need to stop it and I know that it has to start with my mind set. I've done this before. I can do it again. This time I want it to be my last time.

Weekends with Hubby are not good!

Not for eating anyways. We just suck each other in. Especially since we just got paid. Sunday and Monday were only mildy better than my horrible Saturday. I just don't understand why it is so hard to say NO to going out. We could actually still eat out, but make healthier choices. Both places we ate had healthy choices. But no, we both went for the fattening stuff we usually go for. I hate having to keep getting back on the wagon. I really want to just get on it and stay on! It really is an uphill battle. It's so easy to get on a slippery slope. I can cook yummy, tasty and healthy food at home, why do I like going out so much? I know there's no point in dwelling on the wrong. I can only move forward, knowing this week will be better and taking one day at a time.

I did use my bread machine twice over the weekend. I made very good WW bread. It is really good! I also made French Bread (and I added some WW flour to it too). It's also very good. We haven't used it yet, as we ended up eating out instead of making spaghetti, but we'll be using it tonight. It's enough to make some garlic bread for tonight and freeze the rest for the soups we'll be having. If you have never checked out the Hillybilly Housewife site (www.hillbillyhousewife.com), I suggest you do. I love her bread recipes over the 2 bread machine books I have. The recipes in the books many extra ingredients. Her's are very basic and good. I will be cooking up her rolls today. I'll be using them for Sloppy Joes tomorrow, plus for Ryan's breakfast sandwiches and hot dog rolls. Oh, I've also used her pizza dough recipe. I substituted some WW flour too and it came out very good.

I just finished up my meal planning for this pay period. I will be using a few Hillbilly Housewife recipes. Two soups, two chicken and her faux chicken cutlets. I am hoping these come out better than the last time I tried to make seitan. I think they will. Another soup from the Vegan Lunch Box and a chicken dish from Cooking Light. I'll also be doing a rotisserie chicken. Lunches will be mostly leftovers for me. Sandwiches, wraps & leftovers for Ryan too. I will be making some WW tortillas from the HHW as well.

Treats will be more granola from HHW and brownies from the Vegan Lunch Box. We have been loving homemade granola and granola bars here! I will also be making some oatmeal bars from the Laptop Lunches book. I also plan on trying my hand at making some vegan goldfish crackers for E. I want to get away from purchasing animal crackers, Teddy Grahams and Goldfish. I do like animal crackers b/c they are low in calories and sugar, but I wish they were made with WW flour.

This past weekend we finally finished getting E's room set up. It looks great! Now I have to start thinking of how I'm going to decorate his walls. The sewing room is getting there. There's so much stuff to put away, donate and sell. I think I'll be able to finish at least getting everything put away today. I have a few things I'm going to be selling over the next few days as well. I am trying to simplify my fabric and stuff. I've actually been able to give away or sell quite a bit so far.

I cannot wait until this whole apartment is unpacked and done. We have about 7 big boxes of stuff to be picked up by the thrift store and we haven't even done our room yet! They are all sitting in our living room, along with my most recent sewing machine purchase. I don't know where I'll be putting that at in the sewing room yet. There would be plenty of room, except the sewing room also shares space with an elliptical machine, weight bench and sit-up bench. Oh well, I will figure something out.

On a non-domestic note, I really do love this apartment and the complex. There are so many trees. Lots of squirrels, birds (I've seen a woodpecker and a cardinal so far), ducks (I know they're birds too), turtles and dogs. Although we're not on the lake, we're right next to it and we have a lake view from our dining room and the sewing room. I set up my sewing table so I'll be looking at the lake as I'm sewing. The way these apartments are situated is really nice too. There are 2 windows in every room, except the kitchen and the bathrooms. But the kitchen is right next to the dining room and I can easily look out the window as I'm cooking/cleaning. Plus, we're right next to the pool. As soon as everything is set up, I will be taking pictures.

Well, I am going to go have a late breakfast. Than E will go down for his nap, Arty (the dog) will be walked and I have to go grocery shopping. Woot!

Owie!

Goodness, yesterday was not a good day, health or domestic wise. Though it was a fun shopping day.

I started the day off right with home-made granola and a banana. Unfortunately, it was all downhill from there. Ryan did not have breakfast before we left to hit a yard sale. So, it was drive-thru McD's. I had his hash browns. Then I had Checker's drive-thru for lunch. And we had pizza for dinner. Nary a fruit or veggie in sight. It was a fattening, unhealthy day. I didn't even take the dog on a long walk. These are the kind of days I'm trying not to have anymore. The good thing is they are getting farther and farther apart.

Domestically, I only did dishes last night. Ran the dishwasher and hand-washed the rest. The garbage really needs to go out and it will today.

Shopping wise, we got some good deals. At the yard sale, we bought E a train table and myself a vintage sewing machine. We had been wanting both for a while. E loves his train table, that's for sure! My machine came in a table that doesn't look so hot, but the machine is nice. I'll have to look up what year it is. The brand is not Brother, though the engine says it's a Brother engine, so I'm assuming Brother actually made the machine. I like Brother's. I have 2 others, though I'll be selling one shortly. I went to 6 thrift stores yesterday looking for a bread machine. I finally found an Oster that makes 2 lbs loaves and is in excellent condition. As soon as I'm done updating, I'll be starting my first loaf in it. My other finds include books for E, Thomas sandals for E, a train for E (that he loves), 2 shirts for Ryan, an older Alice in Wonderland thermos for myself and some Tupperware containers for my flour/sugar. Yep, it was a good thrift store day.

Today will be better eating wise. Domestically, I'll be cooking dinner and washing dishes. We are also going to finish getting the sewing room and E's room set up.

Here it is!

This blog is for me to share my journey to embracing not only a healthy lifestyle, but also domestic life as a housewife.

I have not worked in over 2 years and yet am just now starting to get into and enjoy being a SAHM. I think it's the change in scenery. This apartment is so much larger than our last, much more open. I think that maybe that has helped me be happier. I've been so much happier here than I have been in a long time. Anyways, I have cooked dinner most of the time and kept the house somewhat clean, but I have never embraced being a housewife.

The biggest part I have embraced lies in the kitchen. This ties in with a healthier lifestyle. It is quite a challenge to change to healthy eating and living. I am doing so-so so far with plans to improve. I am now making all of our bread. I am making homemade granola, granola bars, oatmeal bars and muffins. Who knew it could all taste so good? Whole wheat pizza crust, yummy! Plus, lots of fruits. We are eating a lot of fresh fruits. And some veggies, though that is something we're working on.

I am trying to make most of our meals with simpler ingredients. Whole grains, lean protein, fruits and veggies. It works very well on most days. We still have our off days. It is so hard to make the change. Junk food is so much easier, quicker and is tasty as well. But, it's just not any good for you!

Exercise is another thing I am working on. This past month my exercise consisted of only walking the dog. Which is better than my previous exercise of nothing. This coming month I want to include a DVD in my routine. Specifically my YBB and Pilates tapes/DVD's. My goal is 3 days a week, plus daily dog walking. I eventually want to work in 2 days of weights, but don't want to overwhelm myself too soon.

Also in my goals for this next month is to set up a cleaning schedule. I keep the kitchen pretty clean. However, the rest of the house lacks. I am not a super neat freak, so my goals reflect that. Basically, they are vacuum/sweep once a week, clean bathrooms once a month. I already do laundry, pick-up, garbage, dishes... stuff like that daily or as needed. I am horrible at bathrooms and vacuuming/sweeping.

My other personal goals for this month are taking E to the beach or pool at least once a week, get some sewing time in (after the room is finally set up) and some knitting/crocheting in too. My hobbies have been slacking since the move and I want to get back into them.

So, stayed tuned for my struggles, hints and tips.