Clean Grocery Shopping

After enjoying my last "dirty" meal, I made a grocery list, found out which grocery store had the biggest organic selection, and headed there!

I tried to stay on the outer aisles of the store, and felt a little weird putting SO many fruits and veggies in my buggy. I was sure someone was going to think I was a hippie treehugging vegan. (Not that all vegans are treehugging hippies. But I was sure they would think I was. There was THAT much produce in my cart. ((... speaking of carts, do only southerners call their grocery carts buggies? Maybe I should just say cart from now on..)))

Here's the produce I got:

• Lemons (for tea)
• Oranges
• Apples
• Celery (I found a clean peanut butter! More on that later...)
• Bananas
• Potatoes
• Blueberries
• Strawberries
• Apples
• Carrots
• Grapes
• Romaine Lettuce (much more nutritious than iceberg- apparently iceberg is just blah when it comes to nutrition)
• Onions
• Spinach
• Tomatoes
• Bell Peppers (I bought all the pretty colored ones; red, yellow, orange, green. I have no clue what the difference is. I guess I'm going to find out...)
• Mangos (or is it Mangoes???)
• Kiwis
• Avocados
• Watermelon
  I told you I looked like a hippie.

I also bought some frozen veggies. And nuts. (Are those considered produce?? Uh....)

• Pecans
• Almonds
• Peanuts
• Spinach
• Corn
• Green Beans

And then the dairy and egg aisle...

• Fat Free Greek Yogurt (It sounds awful to me... but not if I add blueberries!! :)  )
• Eggs (going to eat minimal yolks- mostly egg whites)
• Almond Milk (For a mint chocolate chip protein shake recipe Philip found... Will share.)

I am avoiding beef and pork, and trying to stick to leaner meats like chicken, fish, and turkey. If you've never tried ground turkey, you should. Your husband and kids won't notice unless you tell them. (I speak from experience. :D ) So I just bought some Jennie-O Ground Turkey. I've got tons of chicken and tilapia at home.

So, you know how you're supposed to stay out of the middle aisles of the store? There are a FEW okay things. Just make sure when you go down those middle aisles, that you focus on what you are getting. (Whose idea was it to put cookies on the same aisle as the oatmeal?!) Here's the clean things from the middle aisle:

• Salsa (I figured Philip could dump this on anything he thought was too bland. Salt is evil.)
• Corn Tortillas (I promised him we could have some. I didn't find some that I was sure were clean, but the ingredient list was minimal and didn't have partially hydrogenated anything. All of the "healthy" and "whole grain" and "natural" labeled ones were FULL of partially hydrogenated oils! I was SHOCKED!)
• Unsweeted Applesauce
• Whole-grain pasta
• Green Tea
• 100% pure and natural maple syrup (okay to use occasionally. Just don't use a lot.) 
• Steel-cut oatmeal
  
• Peanut Butter (The ingredients list just said: Peanuts. SCORE! So proud of myself.)
  
• Long Grain Brown Rice (Philip LOVES Rice. Double score.)
  
  My apologies for the upside-down picture. I'm too lazy to turn it around.
  
  I will admit it. I was SUPER nervous to go to the checkout. I kept formulating plans on how I was going to put things back without embarrassing myself if I went over my grocery budget. Is it just me, or wouldn't you think this would cost at least $275+? I mean, when I think organic, natural, clean foods, I think exPENsive!
  
  $158.09. That was my total. Woot!!! Go me.
  
  Any questions or comments on what is or isn't ok to buy? Post them below and I'll answer! :)

Time for a Change: Clean Eating

Well, last I updated, I announced that I was having another baby. Here is the sweet fella:

During my pregnancy, I gained 33 lbs. I quickly lost 23 with WeightWatchers PointsPlus Program, and have been struggling with the last 10. I love weight watchers; don't get me wrong. It's a great starting point to teach people how to make better choices about what they eat, and it encourages healthier eating. 

But I'm ready to be even healthier. On WeightWatchers, I was still eating a lot of processed foods, full of trans fats, preservatives, and lots of things added in that just aren't natural. So, via Pinterest, I discovered the method of eating Clean. I did a bit of internet research, and although there are some variations, these are the main points I'll be following with the clean eating diet:

• Shop on the outer aisles of the grocery store. i.e., fruits, veggies, fresh meat, milk, eggs, plain yogurt, etc.
• Read the ingredients on everything you buy. (I thought this part would be super hard, but when deciding if I want to buy something I look for a short ingredient list ((4-5 ingredients)) that does not include partially hydrogenated anything ((partially hydrogenated = trans fats)) and that does not include lots of oils and butters.
• Try to only eat things that are as close to their natural form as possible- i.e., minimally processed.
• Drink water or tea.
  
  Did I mention I conned talked my husband into doing this with me? (We enjoyed a farewell to processed food meal tonight: Sonic. Y-U-M.)
  
  So, in an effort to hold ourselves accountable, and so that we will stick to this thing, I'm posting our before pictures.
  
  Don't judge me. 

Philip (my husband) told me to slouch and look unhappy. Apparently, that's how you're supposed to take "before" photos.

And here is Philip. Don't judge him either. (I also had to con talk him into allowing me to share his pictures.)

Our goals are to pay more attention to what we put into our bodies (with me especially, since I'm nursing), get healthier, and lose weight. 

Wish us luck!

Baby #2 makes four!!

I am happy to announce that my husband and I are expecting our second child! He or she is due April 4th!

Since finding out, I have already started buying diapers whenever I can get a good deal on them. Yes, I realize this is a little crazy, but I figure that it is soooo much easier to buy a 4 months worth of diapers over 10 months while I can get good deals- as opposed to waiting until baby comes and having to run to the store two or three times a week to buy diapers. (I don't know about you, but when we have new kids, we never end up just buying diapers. I sent my husband to the store for a breast pump when Lily was a week old, and he spent $200 on random baby stuff- and no, that doesn't include the breast pump...)

So Baby and Lily will be 22 months apart! Does anyone have any suggestions on what I can expect during that first year? Or advice for me? Please comment below! :)

Repurposed Baby Wipes Container!

So today, I finished a wipes container. I didn't want to throw it away, and my 1 year old doesn't use crayons yet. I wanted to use it in the kitchen. So I decided to use it to store my seasoning mixes!

It's the -perfect- size for seasoning mixes, and now they aren't scattered all over my shelves!!

I was so thrilled with myself. What do you use old baby wipes containers for?

Saving Money through Everyday Activities

Recently, my husband and I have been looking for ways to save money by changing some of our daily habits. With a bit of thought, we've found ways to save money every month by changing a few of habits, as well as eliminating some unnecessary luxuries in our lives. Here's a list of the changes we have made- and once I find out  how much it has saved us, I'll let you know!

Don't turn on the dishwasher unless it is completely full. 
Okay, this may seem obvious, but we never did this! We always turned the dishwasher on whenever we were running low on bottles or sippy cups, but now that baby is out of bottles and has more sippy cups, we can stop. We've gone from running the dishwasher at least twice a day to running it once every other day!
Similarly, we've made sure to move the laundry to the dryer in a timely manner. There is no sense in having to wash the same load of clothes 3 times because you never got around to moving it to the dryer. Wasting money!

Limit showers to 15 minutes or less.

I don't know about your husband, but mine tends to take showers of at least 30 minutes. That, to me, is absurd. Just wash your hair, bathe, and get out!!! When you just stand there and relax in the shower it is wasting money! - At least, that's what I want to tell him. Anyway, we've decided to limit showers to 15 minutes or less. If I can get husband to stick to this rule, we can save (15x7=105) 105 minutes of running water each week! That's 420 minutes of water a month!

Find a temperature that you can live with, and agree not to set your thermostat below it.

We tend to keep the thermostat set at 69. We are crazy. We know. We live in Louisiana where it is a humid 104 on a normal summer day. Sooooo... we decided that we could live with agreeing not to set the thermostat under 72. (I didn't actually think we would be able to stick to this rule- but we have!! Yay!) Sometimes I get all crazy and turn it all the way up to 75! Look at me, living the wild life! (Hardy har har.) In the winter, we agreed to not set the thermostat above 69. (Normally we probably would have set it at 73- maybe up to 75.) 

Evaluate subscriptions and decide what you use and what can be eliminated.

In our home, we had 2 movie service subscriptions, and frequently rented movies on our PS3 (at $3.99 a movie!! Geez!!). We cancelled one subscription, and reduced the other one. We've agreed not to rent anymore movies off of the PS3 (or at least not 2 or 3 a week like we were before.
We also had a home phone subscription which I had INSISTED upon getting when we moved into this house. "I don't want to be a pregnant woman whose cell phone won't work when she goes into labor or has an emergency!"  Well, I got over it and decided to cancel our home phone. Haha. I decided, we have 2 cell phones and live within an hour of nearly all of our loved ones. We will be fine. 

I'm still looking for more ways to cut costs. What do you do to make ends meet each month? Please, let me know!

Easiest Way to Clean Your Microwave- and Without Dangerous Chemicals!

I was cleaning my microwave today and was reminded that I should share with you all the way that I do it that is SO easy! It's so easy, you probably won't believe it until you try it. :D

Fill a medium size microwave-safe container 3/4 full with water, and add about 3 tablespoons or so of lemon juice. You may need more lemon juice if your microwave is very dirty. Place the dish in the microwave and heat it for 12 minutes. After the timer goes off, let the water sit in the microwave for 5-8 minutes. This part is very important, because the steam from the lemon-water mixture will fill the microwave and coat the walls, starting to work on the buildup. Then, simply wipe your microwave clean with a rag. If you have a stubborn stain, dip the end of your rag in the lemon-water mix (be careful, its very hot!) and wipe the stain with a bit of the lemon-water mix.

Sometimes my turntable has buildup on it that won't come off with a wipe or a good scrub. In that case, I let some of the lemon water mixture sit on the turntable for 5-10 minutes and then wipe it clean with no problems!

Try it out for yourself, and let me know how it works for you! :)

Albertson's Soda Sale!

While getting my grocery list together last night I found that Albertson's also has sodas on sale this week.

Coke, Diet Coke, or Coke Zero 12-pk. – 4 for $10.88 -no in ad store coupon necessary (I went to the Southfield store this morning! :))


7Up, Squirt, Sunkist, Pepsi, Diet Pepsi or Pepsi Max, fridge packs- 4 for $10.00
Must buy 4


Happy Shopping! :)