Monday, March 31, 2008

Menu Plan Monday 3/31/2008

UPDATE: I switched our menu around a bit since we decided to eat chili for two days instead of freezing it or throwing it out. I also changed the Slow Cooker Pot Roast recipe - see below for updated link.

It's Menu Plan Mondays over at "I'm an Organizing Junkie". We didn't too good with our menu last week. We did eat out one night but our pot roast had went bad on us so we chose to take the kids out. The weekends are also bad for us. I really need to get my fiance on the same page or should I say the same menu.

Monday - Chili, Cheeseburgers for the boys

Tuesday - Chili dogs

Wednesday - breakfast: eggs, sausage, hashbrowns, biscuits

Thursday - Slow Cooker Pot Roast - I followed the recipe with the exception of adding cut up potatoes, mushrooms and baby carrots. They were not in the sauce but piled on top of the roast. They were "steam" and in the sauce by the time dinner was served. Very good - recommend!!

Friday - pizza

Saturday - Meatball sandwiches

Sunday - Steaks, mashed potatoes, corn, and side salad

Next week, I am going to try to squeeze some Weight Watcher recipes into my menu.

Just a reminder - P&G Coupons

The new Proctor & Gamble P&GbrandSaver coupon booklet will be in this Sunday's paper.

It will have $67 in savings such as Pampers, Pringles, and Dawn(perfect for CVS shopping)! Find out here if your local paper carries the P&G Brand coupon booklet.

Read the original post here.

Weighing In #8

I’m so frustrated. I think I’m going to buy a new scale. I only lost 1 pound this week. I know, it’s better than gaining weight but it still upsets me. I am going to make some changes this week. Over the next two days (Monday and Tuesday), I will follow the Weight Watcher’s Flex plan; however, I will start my new week on Wednesday (still following the WW Flex plan). I have never started a diet on Monday and I have never heard good things about starting a diet on a Monday. What was I thinking? My new weigh in day will be on Wednesdays. Last year I used Wednesday since it fell in the middle of the week. It’s also the day that I would have to weigh in, if I chose to attend Weight Watcher meetings. I’ve updated my Weight Loss ticker but may need to make some adjustments come Wednesday.

Over the weekend while I was shopping with my mother, I came across some great deals on summer clothes. I grabbed up an armful and headed for a dressing room. I was ready to buy UNTIL I tried them on! I was so disappointed but I think it was also a turning point for me. I realized that I needed to get focused on losing weight and toning up. We have 67 days until vacation. I know I won’t be able to lose a pound a day so I need to do the best I can over the next 10 weeks.

Now what are my new goals? More exercise and better eating! I started working towards the better eating goal buy picking up fruits and vegetables at the grocery yesterday. We now have grapes, apples, oranges, bananas, pineapple, celery, carrots, lettuce, tomatoes…just to name a few. As for my exercise, I am going to plan some workout on my lunch hour and stop at the YMCA before picking my kids up from daycare. As far as a weight loss goal, I’d like to keep it at 2 pounds. I know it’s possible and it’s a reasonable number.

Day 50, Food and Exercise Log

I don't like Monday mornings!!!

Daily Allowance Points: 24
Weekly Allowance Points: 35

Breakfast:
Tim Horton's Iced Cappucino (made with white milk) (4 points)
Banana Muffin (3 points)

Lunch:
Chili (6 points)
Celery with Ranch dressing (4 points)
-I can honestly say that I am not a fan of celery. I normally don't eat celery but thought I would give it a try. I had to peel the "strings" off of it before I could eat it.

Dinner:
Chili dog (7 points)
Coleslaw (2 points)

Dessert:
Banana Muffin ( 3 points)

Exercise:
2 miles on my treadmill

Daily Allowance Used: 24
Weekly Allowance Used: 5

Overall thought: My fiance is making me fat!! I really didn't want chili dogs for dinner. It was supposed to be chili! I don't know what's up with that. He wanted to save the leftovers for tonight which is great because it means I didn't waste a lot of food but I'm not eating it tonight - too many points for 1 chili dog! I left work early since I wasn't feeling well so my stop at the YMCA on the way home did not happen. I felt better later in the even so I hopped on the treadmill while I watched Two and a Half Men.

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Day 49, Food and Exercise Log

Busy, Busy weekend...will post tomorrow but wanted to jot down my food intake for today. I'll be back tomorrow to finish it up.

Daily Allowance Allowed: 24
Weekly Allowance Allowed: 28

Breakfast:
Tim Horton's Iced Cappucino (made with white milk) (4 points)
Bacon biscuit (5 points)

Lunch:
Bacon biscuit (5 points)
Fat Free Chocolate Pudding (2 points)

Dinner:
Chili (6 points)

Dessert:
Banana Nut Muffin (3 points)

Exercise:
No formal exercise. However, I scrubbed the whole house....walls, floors, ceiling fans, moved furniture to sweep behind. I did get a workout from housecleaning though.

Daily Allowance Used: 24
Weekly Allowance Used: 1

Overall thought: Another busy day...I did a lot of shopping for my family. I think we headed out before 11 and didn't get back until after 2. I did pretty well. We have enough groceries to last us more than the 2 weeks that I usually shop for. I'll be doing inventory some time this week. I took advantage of the rainy day and cleaned the house. No formal exercise which probably hurt me but I stayed busy and didn't snack.

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Day 48, Food and Exercise Log

Busy day today so I thought I would quickly post the food and exercise log for today. I will revise it in the morning.

Daily Allowance Points: 24
Weekly Allowance Points: 28

Breakfast:
Egg Biscuit (5 points)

Lunch
6 in Subway Club on Wheat (6 points)

Dinner:
Popcorn Chicken and French Fries (9 points)

Exercise:
None - Migraine!

Daily Allowance Used: 20
Weekly Allowance Used:0

Overall thought: This was a very busy day. I did a lot of shopping with my mother and usually we pick up snacks in the store. I ate before we went and then was rushed to get home. No formal dinner was served...it was more less a free for all. I cooked popcorn chicken and french fries for dinner. I know the original point value was 12 but my oldest son took almost half of it while I was folding laundry. I went ahead and counted almost the whole point value. No exercise due to my migraine which was probably due to the small amount of food and the amount of time between lunch and dinner.

Friday, March 28, 2008

Fitness on Friday - 3/28/2008



 Fitness on Friday


I've decided to join in on Fitness on Friday over at Bye Bye Fat Mom. I could really use some motivation so I'm going to see if this will help.

This week has been the best workout week this year! That's bad to say but it has. I worked out on my lunch hour a couple days and after work before picking the kids up. I am going to sit tomorrow and look at our family schedule and my work meetings to see where I can squeeze in more workouts. I definitely need it.

My goals for this week was to lose 2 pounds. I'm hoping when I step on the scale Monday. That happens! Keep your fingers crossed...it might be an ugly site if it doesn't happen. Actually, it will mean that I will be going to Tim Horton's for an Iced Cappucino to make me feel better probably.

To read more about my goals for this week, check out this post. After reading through that post, head over to Bye Bye Fat Mom's Fitness on Friday to read other's stories.

Mark Your Calendars - April 30 - Cheap Ice for a Good Cause

April 30th is $.31 scoop night at Baskin-Robbins. Purchase ice cream between 5-10 pm and you can get up to 10 scoops for the $.31 price. This is in honor of the National Fallen Firefighters Association. In some locations, you may even be able to donate to your local fire charities.

To find a store near you, click here.

For those in the Dayton, OH area, I found 7777 Springboro Pike Dayton , OH 45449
For those in the Cincinati, OH area, I found 435 E. Martin Luther King Dr Cincinnati , OH 45229
Both locations are within a Dunkin Donuts store.

Day 47, Food and Exercise Log

Not a good start today, the alarm clock didn't go off. Actually, it did but someone had turned down the volume. A reason I don't like my loving 4 year old to play in the bedroom!

Daily Allowance Points: 24
Weekly Allowance Points: 28

Breakfast:
Tim Horton's Iced Cappucino (made with white milk) (4 points)
- I have to admit that these are really starting to taste weird. I hope it helps me to kick the habit.
Fiber One Carmel Delight (3 points)
milk (2 points)

Lunch:
6-in. Subway Club on Wheat (6 points)
-I bought a footlong sandwich so I can save the other half for tomorrow. I won't have to dig through the cabinets and refridgerator tomorrow to find something for lunch (and end up eating junk).

Dinner:
Cheeseburger (7 points)

Exercise:
Jump rope - 15 minutes
hand weights
stability ball

Daily Allowance Used: 22
Weekly Allowance Used: 0

Overall thought: The day wasn't that bad. I don't know why but I am always so hungry on Fridays. I went out to lunch and still made a pretty good choice. I had to talk my mother out of a sit down restaurant that serves bread and oil (a weakness of mine). Once I really get rolling, I'll go and turn it away before they even bring it. This is probably one of the first Friday's that I actually did a little bit of exercise. With the family in bed, exercise is easier.

Frugal Friday - Free DVD rentals

It's Frugal Friday over at Crystal's blog.

With the price of everything going up, the last thing I want to deal with is paying for movie rentals (either from the video store or pay per view) or even late fees because we forget to return them. For a little over a year now, we have been renting movies from our library. Our library has a website that you can use to request items and renew items. I go out to the website about once a week to request movies that we would like to borrower (we request books too). Then they send me an email when they are ready to be picked up. I can also head to the library to check out the selection they have on hand. New movies have a 7 day rental policy and the older movies have 21 days (plenty of time to watch it again and again). The late fee is only $.10 a day for each item that is late. With drop off locations close to home and work, I usually never have to pay for late fees but if I do it's a lot cheaper than the video store.



Check with your local library; they might have DVD rentals as well and it will save you money on rental fees, membership fees, and even late fees.

Ours also has music CDs. I usually borrower them before purchasing a CD. If I don't like more than half the songs, I end up not buying the CD.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Workout Wednesday: Jumping Rope

Workout Wednesday: Jumping Rope

I forgot to post this yesterday so I’m going to post it today rather than wait until next Wednesday. I already have other plans for next Wednesday.

Jumping rope is a great fat burner. Even in a short amount of time, jumping rope expends a large amount of caloric burn – more than walking! You get an upper and lower body workout. To me, it’s like two workouts in one.

Those of you that know me know that I used to be on a double dutch team back in my elementary years. It was so much fun. I would love to get into it again by teaching younger kids how to double dutch. In the meantime, I’ll jump my single rope in hopes of burning many, many calories. If you are too clumsy to jump using a jump rope, you could always fake it or purchase a JumpSnap.

Below is a 15 minute workout routine. I like to get at least 30 minutes in so I double the time or repeat the routine.
15-minute Jump Rope Workout
Skip Time Variation Recovery Time
30 sec Double Jump 45 sec
45 sec Side-to-side 45 sec
60 sec Running In Place 60 sec
90 sec Alternate Jump 45 sec
2 min Double Jump 60 sec
90 sec Alternate Jump 45 sec
60 sec High Step 30 sec
45 sec Side-to-side 30 sec
30 sec Running In Place Cool down

Variations
Double Jump = both feet take off and land together
Side-to-side = alternate landing from left to right
Running in Place = jog in place motion but a little faster and more intensity
Alternate Jump = alternate feet in a skipping motion
High Step = jog like with high knees

Day 46, Food and Exercise Log

Another rainy day... It's amazing how rain can change a person's mood and make them feel so tired (or maybe it just happens to me).

Daily Allowance Points: 24
Weekly Allowance Points: 35

Breakfast:
Tim Horton's Iced Cappucino (made with white milk) (4 points)

Lunch:
Healthy Choice Cafe Steamer - Grilled Chicken Marinara (5 points)
Pineapple slices (1 point) - only one serving today

Dinner:
BW3 - Grilled Chicken Bufflitos (16 points)
Sunset Beach (there's something about the place that makes me want a drink) (5 points)

Exercise:
None

Daily Allowance Used: 24
Weekly Allowance Used: 7

Overall thought: Bad choice by the fiance to go out to dinner. Also a bad choice by me to eat what I did. However, it's better than what I normally get at BW3's. I know I won't be getting it again, EVER! There wasn't any exercise since we decided to go out to dinner and nothing at lunch since I ended up having to work through lunch to get some things finished. I'm hoping that this weekend will be better. I am going to focus on what I eat and getting some exercise since weigh in is on Monday! I really don't want to see a weight gain!

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Free Healthy Habits Activity Booklet for Kids

Teach kids healthy habits the fun way with an activity book from Lysol!

The activities focus on a variety of health and safety issues that are important to children today. Aimed at 6 - 9 year olds, the program allows children to engage in fun activities as they learn about various health and safety topics.

Complete online request form here to order the Healthy Habits Activity Booklet mailed to you free of charge or download your copy here. If you order them online, you can order 5 as a parent and more as a teacher, other caregiver, or healthcare professional.

WFMW: Under the Sink Basket

It's Work for Me Wednesday over at Rock's In My Dryer. I wanted to share with you what is working for me under my bathroom sink. I have made a tampon/sanitary napkin basket. We have a lot of teenage and young adult girls that visit our house in the summer time. I was tired of finding empty packages under the sink so I made up a small basket of tampons (different varieties), sanitary napkins, panty liners, and personal wipes. It made restocking easy since I could see exactly what was in there and how much was left. It also made more room under my sink.

Now head over to WFMW to see other great ideas!

Day 45, Food and Exercise Logs

Yesterday ended better than today is starting...

Daily Allowance Points: 24
Weekly Allowance Points:35

Breakfast:
Pillsbury Cinnamon Roll (7 points)

Lunch:
Toasted Cheese sandwich (3 points)
Campbell's Soup at Hand - Creamy Chicken (3 points)
Pineapple slices (2 points)

Dinner:
2 pieces pizza (8 points)

Exercise:
Elliptical (lunch time) - 17 minutes, 1.4 miles, 205 calories
Treadmill (lunch time) - 13 minutes, .75 miles, 106 calories
Elliptical w/arm exercisers (after work) - 30 minutes, 2.6 miles, 410 calories

Daily Allowance Used: 23
Weekly Allowance Used: 0

Overall thought: Adding the workouts has really helped my mood and my energy level...I love it! I can't wait to go grocery shopping though. We have a lot of frozen, canned and boxed items but not much as far as produce. I really need to be adding some to my food intake.

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Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Day 44, Food and Exercise Log

I need coffee or something!!

Daily Allowance: 24
Weekly Allowance: 35

Breakfast...still deciding. I've finally decided (@ 10:00)
Quaker Simple Harvest Apples with Cinnamon (2 points)

Lunch:
Toasted Cheese sandwich (3 points)
Campbell's Soup at Hand - Creamy Chicken (3 points)
Pineapple slices (2 points)


Dinner:
Italian Chicken over spaghetti (7 points)
Dinner roll (2 points)

Dessert: Since I was so low on points, I figured I would have some dessert.
Cool whip free with a little chocolate (4 points)

Exercise:
You will not believe it...I worked out at lunch time AND after work!!
Elliptical (lunch time) - 26 minutes, 300 calories, 2.1 miles
Elliptical w/moving arms (after work) - 25 minutes, 317 calories, 2.13 miles
Hand weights (15 minutes)
Jump rope (15 minutes)
Stability ball (25 minutes)

Daily Allowance Used: 23
Weekly Allowance Used: 0

Overall thought: WAAHOO! I feel good! I got quite a bit of exercise in today. It makes me think though...is my job making me fat or my fiance. My fiance hasn't been home this evening so I have been able to add a little variety into the workout. Usually, he lays on the couch and makes me unmotivated just looking at him. On the other hand, my job isn't the best. Let's just start, and finish, by saying I work for a mortgage company. If you're thinking "Wow, their still in business", yes but not all the employees are and the stock price = AWFUL! I'm in the process of looking for a new job and I'm TRYING to motivate my fiance to get off the couch. His excuse right now is that he was sick and still not feeling well. Ok, now let's see how tomorrow goes!

Monday, March 24, 2008

Menu Plan Monday 3/24/2008

It's Menu Plan Mondays over at "I'm an Organizing Junkie". We ate from our menu again last week, with the exception of the weekend. I think the weekends are hard to plan and will get harder to plan as the weather gets nicer. I'll have to come up with easy to fix dinners for late spring and summer.


Monday: Cheeseburgers, French fries

Tuesday: Slow Cooked Italian Chicken over spaghetti

Wednesday: leftovers/chicken nuggets, mac&cheese, corn

Tuesday: Pot Roast with veggies

Friday: Pizza

Saturday: Meatball sandwiches, salad

Sunday: **Not sure, grocery shopping on Saturday.

Day 43, Food and Exercise Log

What a wonderful Monday!

Daily Allowance: 24 points
Weekly Allowance: 35 points

Breakfast:
Tim Horton's Iced Cappucino (made with white milk) (4 points)
Banana (2 points)

Snack:
6 Dove Dark Chocolate Eggs (6 points) - bad choice but it helped my negative attitude a little
I brought in almost all of my free Easter candy that I had left. These people are loving it! Great news!

Lunch:
Turkey sandwich (3 points)
String Cheese (2 points)

Snack:
Yoplait Yo Plus Digestive Health Yogurt - Cherry (2 points) Ugh! I can't eat it!

Dinner:
Toasted turkey sandwich with cheese (4 points)

Exercise:
Hand weights
Stability ball

Daily Allowance used:23
Weekly Allowanced used: 0

Overall thought: My oldest son came home today and still wasn't feeling well. I couldn't leave him at home by himself so there was no trip to the YMCA tonight. Nobody felt like eating so I didn't cook dinner either. Instead, I cleaned up the house and scrubbed the bathroom.

I have been tagged!

This is my first tag!

Southerner at Southerner Seven has tagged me. I have to list 10 random things about myself.

1. I have 2 sisters and a brother.

2. I love to read magazines! Some of my favorite are: All You, Shape, Fitness, Self...

3. I drive really fast (but carefully)!

4. Both of my kids were the same size at birth.

5. I'm not a good cook, I fake my way through it. I burned chicken when I was 15 and threw it in the neighbors yard. I didn't know what else to do with it...it was smokin'.

6. I LOVE dark chocolate!

7. I love the beach, sun, and warm weather.

8. I don't know how to swim. I can doggie paddle!

9. My first job was at an ice cream shop. I thought I was the richest 13 year old when I received my paycheck. At the time, I was only making $2.15 an hour. I worked there for 8 years!

10. I worked at McDonald's for one week! I wouldn't have made it through the week, if the manager wouldn't have called me every morning to wake me up (because I wasn't there on time). I didn't get fired. I quit because they wanted me to do dishes.

Weighing In #7

Well...I didn't lose anything this week, except for my mind, but I didn't gain anything either. I can look at that as a good thing being that I was very busy everyday last week with doctor's appointments, sick kids, not having a backup food plan for this weekend and running my mother around this weekend (those that don't know - she doesn't drive, not that she can't - she chooses not to).

I started the Weight Watcher's Flex program last week and it seemed to be "ok". I'm going to give it at least one more week before I decide to do something else. I need to put forth more effort and get some healthy food into my diet. What happened to baby carrots and salads? Their not on my daily food intake and should be... I will remain at 24 daily allowance points and 35 weekly allowance points.

Now the exercise - I need to do it! No excuses allowed! I didn't meet any of my exercise goals last week. I didn't lay on the couch or sit around all week but I didn't get any formal exercise. I'm going to go back to last week's exercise plan and try to accomplish that this week. Along with that, I am going to start a Workout Wednesday's post. This came as a suggestion to get me motivated. We'll see if it works, nothing else seems to be working. They will be workouts that I have done prior to posting.

My goal weight loss will remain at 2 pounds as well.

Day 41 & 42, Food and Exercise Log

Ok, I'll have to admit the weekend was horrible! The fiance was sick on Saturday, my oldest son was at his grandmother's sick, and the young one got sick Saturday night. Nobody felt like eating and I wasn't cooking the "big" dinners for myself. So, I ate what I could find that didn't need to be cooked.

Saturday - I don't remember much of what I had except for a 1/4 of a pretzel, can of Coke, baked potato, and a Shamrock shake from McDonald's.

Sunday
Breakfast: Nothing

Lunch: Arby's roast beef sandwich and curly fries

Dinner: Ham, green beans, potatoes, pickled egg, salad

Overall thought: I'm ready for spring. The first day the temperature is up over 60 and I am home...the windows are getting opened. I am tired of everyone being sick! I also need to get my fiance on board with the weekend meal planning. I plan it and he throws it out. Along with all that, I need to exercise.

Friday, March 21, 2008

CVS Monthly ECB Coupons

I've had a few people ask me to find coupons for the March monthly ECB deals at CVS so I thought I would pass this along. There are a few links to non-monthly ECB deals as well. Hope this helps you as well. Don't forget next month is beauty month at CVS...read about it here.

Sudafed
Nexcare

Nivea
Anbesol

Aveeno, there were also coupons in I think Parent magazine and Wonder or Wonder Time (not real sure of the title, I saw it at the doctor's office the other day) Yes, I took the coupons out of it.

CloSys Antiseptic Oral Rinse 32 Oz

Glade Wisp Flamelesscandle (BOGO and $5 coupon)

Gentle Naturals rebate - couldn't find coupons though....

Hyland's Homeopathic Remedy Products - 3 different coupons to print

Pepcid

Orajel - no printable coupon but they will send you one

Ensure

Tylenol

Day 40, Food and Exercise Log

Another day of sitting at home. I'm going to run to WalMart today to pick up some freebies (or cheapies).

Daily Allowance: 24
Weekly Allowance: 33

Breakfast:
2 small Cinnamon Rolls (6 points)

Lunch:
Campbell's Soup at Hand - Creamy Chicken (3 points)
Turkey sandwich (3 points)

Dinner:
Salad (6 points)

Exercise:
No formal exercise

Daily Allowance Used: 18
Weekly Allowance Used: 0

Overall thought: What a busy day! I was at home with the kids today but I'll have to tell you that if I did this on a regular basis. I would definitely need to have a plan!

Free Sample: Ultra XCID Antacid


f you have heartburn, you know that most tablets (like Tums) taste like chalk! Yuck! Well, now it's time to sample a new product that is supposed to have a creamy, smooth texture and taste great. I'm going to get my sample and try it the next time I have heart burn. I just hope it's not like a yogurt texture and slimy...yuck again!

Click here to get your free sample.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

A Few Crest Coupons

Looking for Crest coupons? Or just love coupons like me?

Here are two Crest coupons.

Crest Healthy Radiance

Crest Whitestrips Daily Whitening + Tartar Protection

Day 39, Food and Exercise Log

Well, today has been a busy day. I didn't work today since I had a sick kid. He was feeling up to going out so we ran by work so I could run my morning report, stopped by my mom's house to clean it and get the laundry going, stopped by a couple stores, picked up lunch for him and headed home....by the time we got home, he was asleep.

Daily Allowance: 24
Weekly Allowance: 34

Breakfast:
Tim Horton's Iced Cappucino (made with white milk) (4 points)
I needed this as I was up all night with the sick kid then got up and ready as I do every other day...in the shower by 4:30. I was beat!
Chocolate Dip Donut (5 points) BAD BAD BAD - I normally don't eat donuts.

Lunch:
Campbell's Soup at Hand - Creamy Chicken (3 points)
Toasted Cheese sandwich (3 points)

Snack:
Banana with Cool Whip Free (2 points)

Dinner:
Chicken Ritzy Casserole (8 points)

Exercise:
Hand weights

Daily Allowance Used: 25
Weekly Allowance Used: 1

Overall thoughts: Somebody help! I need to exercise and really have no motivation...even with the treadmill and other equipment staring me in the face! The WW thing doesn't seem to be as bad as I had thought it would be. I thought it would be weeks before I got back in the swing of things. We'll see if the scale agrees that it's going ok.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Free Sample: South Beach & NicoDermCQ

If you haven't signed up for your South Beach Living sample kit, click here and sign up for a Tide Me Over Drink mix and Granola Cluster. If you requested the sample from WalMart a while back, you can do this one too. I did!

Know a smoker that needs to kick the habit? Request them a sample of NicoDermCQ here. You'll also get a $7 coupon!

Free Sample: Dexatrim Max 2-O



Turn water into a great-tasting way to help reach your weight-loss goals. Discover Dexatrim® Max
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WFMW: What to do with all the free Honey Bunches of Oats?!?!


It's Work for Me Wednesday over at Rock's In My Dryer. This week I would like to share what has worked for me over the past week.

We have lots of FREE cereal that we have picked up over the past couple weeks. The one that we've got the most of is Honey Bunches of Oats Chocolate Clusters. I believe we are up to 8 boxes. My kids do not eat cereal...or at least not in a bowl with milk. So, what do I do with all this cereal?!?! I make treats like Rice Krispie treats but with Honey Bunches of Oats Chocolate Clusters.

Ingredients
3 tbsp margarine or butter
1 pkg (10 oz. about 40) regular marshmallows or 4 cups miniature marshmallows
6 cups Honey Bunches of Oats Chocolate Clusters (on any other brand of cereal would probably work too)

Directions
1. Melt margarine in large saucepan over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat.

2. Add cereal. Stir until well coated.

3. Using buttered spatula or waxed paper, press mixture evenly into 13 x 9 pan coated with cooking spray (or butter). Cut into 2-inch squares when cool.

I hear you can make balls out of them instead of flat squares. Just make sure you coat your hands in butter or cooking spray before making them so they won't stick to your hands.

Do you have an other ideas for using up all this cereal? I would LOVE to hear them, if you do.

Day 38, Food and Exercise Log

I gave in this morning. I had to stop and get a coffee...otherwise, it would not be a pretty sight dealing with me today! I am very irritable!!

Daily Allowance: 24
Weekly Allowance: 35

Breakfast:
Tim Horton's Iced Cappucino (made with white milk) (4 points)

Snack:
Fiber One Carmel Delight (3 points)
milk (2 points)

Lunch:
Campbell's Soup at Hand - Creamy Chicken (3 points)
Toasted Cheese sandwich (3 points)

I hate soup but I am hooked on this Soup @ Hand stuff especially since I have been pretty busy at work this week.

Snack:
100 Calorie Pack Hostess Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cakes (1 point) I forgot them when I ran out of work to pick up my sick kid...a later story.

Dinner:
Chicken Ritzy Casserole (8 points)

Dessert:
Banana (2 points)

Exercise:
Hand weights

Daily Allowance Used: 25
Weekly Allowance Used: 1

Overall thought: Well, I'm hoping things get better around here. Spend two days at the doctor's office after work and pick up the little one today and he's sick... Ugh!

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Day 37, Food and Exercise Log

Yesterday wasn't too bad. I was busy all day though so we'll see how today goes...

Daily Allowance: 24
Weekly Allowance: 35

Breakfast:
Fiber One Carmel Delight (3 points)
milk (2 points)

I ditched the smoothie! However, I'm really craving my coffee....still no coffee, cappucino that is.

Snack:Banana (2 points)

Lunch:
Campbell's Soup at Hand - Creamy Chicken (3 points)
Toasted Cheese sandwich (3 points)

Dinner:
2 Soft tacos (6 points)

Dessert:
Banana (2 points) with chocolate syrup (2 points)

Exercise: None

Daily Allowance Used: 23
Weekly Allowanced Used: 0

Overall thought: Let's see...I've stuck to the WW plan for two days now. It's not too bad. I really hate not knowing what the points are on some things...because the calorie, fat and fiber isn't available. Now that the doctor's visits are over and the kittens have been born, it's time to focus on exercise!

Monday, March 17, 2008

Just a few tips for losing weight...

• Set realistic goals (i.e., aim to lose 1-2 pounds a week, not 15). Done!
• Write down what you eat. Write it down? Heck, I share it with the world!
• Make note of your accomplishments and behavior changes, including those you don’t see on the scale (i.e., walked 15 miles in a week, dropped a pants size, ate more fruits and vegetables). I would do if I ever had any...
• Don’t skip meals, especially breakfast. Try not to do this.
• Drink at least eight to ten glasses of water a day. Do this everyday!
• Become active, but start slowly, building up to a faster pace and longer distance. In process!
• Think about the good example you’re setting for your children. Think about it everyday.
The best bet is to eat healthful foods and to try to find a bal­ance between taking care of yourself and taking care of every­one else.

Healthy Eating:
• Eat three nutritious meals per day, with small, healthy snacks in between meals as you need them. Avoid overeating by never letting yourself get over-hungry.
• Add fruits or vegetables to every meal. They are high in fiber and rich in vitamins and minerals. Slice up a banana or strawberries for your morning cereal. Add lettuce and tomato to your sandwich. Toss a salad to accompany dinner.
• Take a close look at your portion sizes. Read the nutrition labels to check the serving sizes.

Regular Activity:
• Set aside time for yourself to exercise and guard it. Physical activity is good for your mental and physical health as well as for boosting your weight-loss efforts.
• Invest in an exercise video or a piece of workout equipment for the house to get in a work out when it’s convenient for your schedule and baby’s schedule. Check out this post!
• Join your local YMCA (most of them have child care).
• Go out for a brisk walk with the stroller, if need be, when the weather permits. Buy a pedometer to help you get motivated and keep track of your steps.

Did you know that walking is an excellent form of exercise? How much do you walk?

Menu Plan Monday 3/17/2008


It's Menu Plan Mondays over at "I'm an Organizing Junkie". For two weeks now, we have been following our menu. It's been nice and less stressful in the evenings. I know what dinner's going to be before I walk in the house. I found that the weekend is the hardest to follow but I use my menu as a backup if we can't decide what we want.


Here goes...


Monday: Cheeseburgers, French fries


Tuesday: Chicken Ritz Bake

Wednesday: Tacos


Thursday: Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Biscuit meal



Friday: Pizza/Leftovers


Saturday: Dinner out


Sunday: Pot roast - not sure what I will do with it yet... I don't want the normal pot roast with potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, onions.

Vehicle Repairs

I was having problems starting my van a couple weeks ago. I dropped my van off to be checked. By the end of the day, the car dealer was on the phone letting me know the fuel pump needed replaced. What was the cost? $1150! OH MY GOSH!! Where was I going to get that kind of money?!?!

I called my fiance in a panic. He said he would call them back. He called them back, called around for prices, then called me back. He decided to do it himself and get a rental car for the couple days that the van would be "in service". What kind of rental did we get? A Kia Spectra. Do I like it? Would I ever own one? No! I'm a spoiled brat and would never own one no matter how many miles per gallon it gets.

Excellent!! Cost out of MY pocket = $0! However, I did let him claim the daycare expenses that I had paid for our youngest son. So, we break even on the fuel pump. Thank goodness he's a mechanic and generous man! Otherwise, I'd probably end up having to pull out the ol' Huffy!

Walgreens and CVS Shopping

I headed out early Sunday morning to do a little bit of shopping since I thought I was going to be without a car. I grabbed my coupons and headed to Walgreens at 9:30 am.

Walgreens
I picked up 2 Glade Flameless Candles (on sale $5.99). I had 2 $5 off coupons making them $.99 each! Perfect because there's also a $2 Walgreens rebate on them so I will make $2 on them.


Our CVS store is right across the street. They didn't look to be open so I drove over to see what their hours were. They opened at 10:00 am. I decided to pull in and wait (there was another lady there waiting too). I noticed the manager had unlocked and opened the door so I headed in a little early! I was the first CVS shopper of the day - no prize though. Wait! There was a prize...the items I went for were on the shelves!

CVS
Here's what I got...

Transaction 1
Our manager will not allow a zero balance on a transaction so I picked up the cheapest thing I could find. I had to get two so my kids wouldn't fight.

Contour Blood Glucose Monitor
2 pencils
Total OOP = $.27 (There's a rebate on the monitor but I had sent in the rebate on one that I purchased earlier in the year.)


Transaction 2
2 - 12 pk plastic Easter eggs
2 - Johnson's Buddy Soaps
2 - Trial Size Johnson's Baby Shampoo (starting to pick up stuff for vacation!)
1 - Glade Spray (not sure what happened to the other one so I guess I will go back so I can get my $1 ECB)
1 - Listerine Smart Rinse
3 - Bic Soleil Razers
Total OOP = $.84 (plus a rebate for the Listerine Smart Rinse)


Transaction 3
1 - Listerine Smart Rinse
Total OOP = $2.20 (plus a rebate for the Listerine Smart Rinse)


$22.96 in ECBs!!

I did have one issue with my trip. Two ladies came in shortly after I did. They each use 3 Extra Care cards to get the items they want. They cleared the shelf of Smart Rinse, Bic Soleil Razers and who knows what else. I think it's wrong to use more than one card...especially in the same trip. Good thing I got in before them!

Day 36, Food and Exercise Log

Let's see if I can spend my points as well as I can spend my money!

Daily Allowance: 24
Weekly Allowance: 35

Breakfast:
Peach/Strawberry Smoothie (3 points)
Fiber One Carmel Delight (3 points)
milk (2 points)

I'm thinking the smoothie isn't going to work either. I thought by adding a fruit drink would help. We'll see how the points play out the rest of the day.

Snack:
Banana (2 points)

Lunch:
Campbell's Soup at Hand - Creamy Chicken (3 points)
Toasted Cheese sandwich (3 points)

Dinner:
Cheeseburger and fries (8 points)

Exercise: None

Daily Allowance Used: 24
Weekly Allowanced Used: 0

There was no exercise today. I had all intentions of working out after my son's doctor appointment but the doctor's office was behind, the cat had kittens and then I had to go to the grocery. A little hectic last night...

Weighing In #6

I don't even know where to start... I didn't lose anything this week. I gained 3 pounds. It's time to make some major adjustments to the plan. I'm going to start following the Weight Watchers Flex program again. I will be using the old system since that's the information I have. I will begin this week with 24 daily allowance points and a weekly allowance of 35 points. Hopefully this will work...it did last year.

Now for the exercise, I probably got more exercise in the past week than I had in previous weeks. I didn't meet my goal of walking 15 miles. I did come close - I had 12 miles. Had I walked on the treadmill last night, I would have made it. But I cleaned the house and got stuff ready for Veterans to pick up on Thursday. I need a new plan in the exercise category too. Let's see... I think I will shoot for 12 miles on my treadmill, 3 - 2 mile segments on the elliptical (YMCA), strength training 2 nights, hand weights/stability ball 3 nights. It's kind of an odd schedule but the boys have doctor appointments this afternoon and tomorrow afternoon so going to the YMCA will be harder since we probably won't make it out of the doctor's office either night by 5-5:30.

A goal for weight loss...2 pounds. I would really like to set this higher but I don't want to be totally disappointed next Monday and give up completely.

Any suggestions? I have given up on Tim Horton's Iced Cappucinos for a while too. But I don't think that was the cause of the weight gain. I drank them everyday last year when I lost 40 pounds.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Super Saturday Savings - March 15

I'm a little late posting but I wanted to share my last CVS purchase for the week. I was able to snag up a few of the monthly ECB deals. This particular transaction cost me $.17 oop! I earned more ECB's than I had paid with...



CVS, Walgreen's and Elder Beerman were the only places that I shopped last week. None of the grocery stores in the area had good sales so I put off grocery shopping until tonight/tomorrow. Hopefully I can come up with some good deals. We still have quite a bit leftover from my last grocery trip on March 2nd.

Day 34 and 35, Food and Exercise Log

What a busy weekend! I didn't have time to post much so here's two days in one...

Day 34
Breakfast:
Egg on toasted English Muffin

Lunch:
1/2 turkey sandwich
Coke (BAD, BAD choice - it's the only thing besides milk and I hate milk!)
Snacks (snacked at Sam's not much but there were a few things I probably shouldn't have sampled. I love the Gogurts!)

Dinner:
2 pieces of Pizza

Exercise:
1 1/2 miles on my treadmill (in the AM...see, if I get to sleep in until 7:30, I would exercise every morning)
Hand Weights

Day 35

Breakfast:
Tim Horton's Iced Cappucino (made with white milk)
Sausage sandwich

Snack:
Slice of banana bread

Lunch:
Peanut butter and jelly sandwich

Exercise:
none

I'll update in the morning...

More Free Jane Products - Meijer 3/16-3/22

Meijer has Jane products buy 1, get 1 free this week! There is $2/1 coupon here from the Jane website. You can print the coupon multiple times. Use one coupon per product purchased and you could walk away getting your make up for FREE (if the items are less than $4).

Friday, March 14, 2008

Toys R Us: $5 off $25 Purchase

Received an email this morning about a weekend sale at Toys R Us...it also included a coupon. It works out perfect for me as I make up Easter baskets for my two boys, my two nieces, my nephew, and my some-day-to-be step grandson. With that said, there’s some toy shopping that needs to be done! Toys R Us has a coupon here that allows you to save $5 on purchase of $25 or more – good this weekend ONLY. If you happen to take your child to the Easter Eggstravaganza at Toys R Us tomorrow, you might want to pick up a few things for an Easter basket or birthday gift, maybe even a game or movie for the family.

To print more than one copy, delete your cookies then visit the link again!

Day 33, Food and Exercise Log

Hooray it's Friday! It's raining here and usually I am miserable when it rains but not today! I'm in such a good mood and don't know why!

Breakfast:
Tim Horton's Iced Cappucino (made with white milk)...last one for the week and hopefully the last one for a while
Mini Banana Muffins (6, I believe)

Snack:
Slice of Banana bread

Lunch:
Pulled pork sandwich (leftover from one night...)
Hunt's Snack Pack Sugar Free Chocolate Pudding

Snack:
Yo Plus Digestive Health Cherry Lowfat Yogurt (I love eating live cultures....not really. It makes me think of spiders.)

Dinner:
Two pieces of pizza

Snack:
Slice of banana bread (the banana bread that's wasn't put in the freezer will be leaving the house tomorrow...thank goodness!!)

Exercise:
Walked around the school for an hour and a half (there for their carnival)
2 1/2 miles on my treadmill

Overall thought: I love Fridays because it's the last work day of the week. I hate Fridays because I always eat a lot and the wrong stuff. My stomach is hungry ALL day on Fridays...don't understand that. Need to get the remaining miles in on my treadmill.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Day 32, Food and Exercise Log

I didn't get up to exercise again this morning. This morning was really rough! The kids didn't want to get up. Once they were up, they would not cooperate at all. We left the house late and all I heard was whining!

Breakfast:
Tim Horton's Iced Cappucino (made with white milk) - was VERY tempted to head to Starbucks for a Frappucino after the rough start we had this morning
Banana

Snack:
100 Calorie Pack Hostess Cinnamon Crumb Muffins

Lunch:
Pulled pork sandwich (leftovers from last night)
coleslaw
Hunt's Snack Pack Sugar Free Chocolate pudding (this stuff is thick...it's gross)

Snack:
Slice of banana bread

Exercise:
I walked around the building at breaks today! I love the change in the weather...I just hope it lasts a little longer than just today.
21 mins/2 miles on the elliptical
1 mile on my treadmill

Overall thought: Really not too bad of a day. I stopped by the YMCA on my way home from work before picking the kids up from daycare. It was a short workout since I had left work later than normal. I think I am going to try to get in the route of stopping and getting at least a half an hour in before getting the kids. I felt good afterwards! I didn't walk as much on my treadmill last night as I wanted to. Next week, I need to set goals to eat more veggies/fruit, add strength training and different cardio.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Interesting Real Facts (Strange but True)

I received this list of interesting facts and thought I would share it with everyone.

1
Look at your zipper. See the initials YKK? It stands for Yoshida Kogyo Kabushibibaisha, the world's largest zipper manufacturer.
2
40 percent of McDonald's profits come from the sales of Happy Meals.
3
315 entries in Webster's 1996 Dictionary were misspelled.
4
On the average, 12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents daily.
5
Chocolate kills dogs! True, chocolate affects a dog's heart and nervous system. A few ounces is enough to kill a small sized dog.
6
Ketchup was sold in the 1830's as a medicine.
7
Leonardo da Vinci could write with one hand and draw with the other at the same time.
8
Because metal was scarce, the Oscars given out during World War II were made of wood.
9
There are no clocks in Las Vegas gambling casinos.
10
Leonardo da Vinci invented scissors. Also, it took him 10 years to paint Mona Lisa's lips.
11
Bruce Lee was so fast that they actually had to slow a film down so you could see his moves. That's the opposite of the norm.
12
The original name for the butterfly was "flutterby"!
13
By raising your legs slowly and lying on your back, you can't sink in quicksand.
14
Mosquito repellents don't repel. They hide you. The spray blocks the mosquito's sensors so they don't know you're there.
15
Dentists recommend that a toothbrush be kept at least six feet away from a toilet to avoid airborne particles resulting from the flush.
16
The first product to have a bar code was Wrigley's gum.
17
Michael Jordan makes more money from Nike annually than the entire Nike factory workers in Malaysia combined.
18
Marilyn Monroe had six toes on one foot.
19
Adolf Hitler's mother seriously considered having an abortion but was talked out of it by her doctor.
20
The three most valuable brand names on earth: Marlboro, Coca-Cola, and Budweiser, in that order.
21
To escape the grip of a crocodile's jaws, stick your fingers into its eyeballs. It will let you go instantly.
22
The average person falls asleep in seven minutes.
23
The "pound" (#) key on your keyboard is called an octothorp.
24
The only domestic animal not mentioned in the Bible is the cat.
25
Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated.
26
The average person's left hand does 56% of the typing.
27
Dreamt" is the only word in the English language that ends in "mt".
28
It's impossible to sneeze with your eyes open.
29
In Chinese, the KFC slogan "finger lickin' good" comes out as "eat your fingers off".
30
A cockroach can live for 10 days without a head.
31
We shed 40 pounds of skin a lifetime.
32
Yo-Yos were once used as weapons in the Philippines .
33
Mexico City sinks about 10 inches a year.
34
Brains are more active sleeping than watching TV.
35
Blue is the favorite color of 80 percent of Americans.
36
When a person shakes their head from side to side, he is saying "yes" in Sri Lanka .
37
There are more chickens than people in the world.
38
The thumbnail grows the slowest, and the middle nail grows the fastest.
39
There are more telephones than people in Washington , D.C.
40
The average four year-old child asks over four hundred questions a day.
41
The average person presses the snooze button on their alarm clock three Tim es each morning.
42
The three wealthiest families in the world have more assets than the Combined wealth of the forty-eight poorest nations.
43
The first owner of the Marlboro cigarette Company died of lung cancer.
44
Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.
45
The world's youngest parents were 8 and 9 and lived in China in 1910.
46!
Our eyes remain the same size from birth onward, but our noses and ears Never stop growing.
47
You burn more calories sleeping than you do watching TV.
48
A person will die from total lack of sleep sooner than from starvation. Death will occur about 10 days without sleep, while starvation takes a Few weeks.
49
Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying.
50
The Mona Lisa has no eyebrows.
51
When the moon is directly overhead, you weigh slightly less.
52
Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, never telephoned His wife or mother because they were both deaf.
53
A psychology student in New York rented out her spare room to a Carpenter in order to nag him constantly and study his reactions. After Weeks of needling, he snapped and beat her repeatedly with an axe Leaving her mentally retarded
54
"I am." is the shortest complete sentence in the English language
55
Colgate faced a big obstacle marketing toothpaste in Spanish speaking Countries because Colgate translates into the command "go hang Yourself."
56
Like fingerprints, everyone's tongue print is different.
57
"Bookkeeper" is the only word in English language with three consecutive Double letters.
58
Right handed people live, on average, nine years longer than left handed People do.
59
The sentence "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" uses every Letter in the English language.
60
If the population of China walked past you in single line, the line Would never end because of the rate of reproduction
61
China has more English speakers than the United States .
62
Every human spent about half an hour as a single cell.
63
Each square inch of human skin consists of twenty feet of blood vessels.
64
An average person uses the bathroom 6 times per day.
65
Babies are born with 300 bones, but by adulthood we have only 206 in our Bodies.
66
Beards are the fastest growing hairs on the human body. If the average Man never trimmed his beard, it would grow to nearly 30 feet long in his Lifetime.
67
According to Genesis 1:20-22, the chicken came before the egg.
68
The longest place name still in use is: Taumatawhakatangihangaoauauotameteaturi- Pukakpikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu - a New Zealand hill.
69
If you leave Tokyo by plane at 7:00am , you will arrive in Honolulu at Approximately 4:30pm the previous day.
70
Scientists in Australia 's Parkes Observatory thought they had positive Proof of alien life, when they began picking up radio-waves from space. However, after investigation, the radio emissions were traced to a Microwave in the building.
71
Wearing headphones for an hour increases the bacteria in your ear 700 times.
72
More than 40,000 parasites and 250 types of bacteria are exchanged during a French kiss.
73
Men can read smaller print than women, but women can hear better.
74
Coca-Cola was originally green.
75
The most common name in the world is Mohammed.
76
The name of all the continents ends with the same letter that they start with.
77
There are two credit cards for every person in the United States .
78
TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard.
79
Women blink nearly twice as much as men!!
80
You can't kill yourself by holding your breath.
81
It is impossible to lick your elbow.
82
People say "Bless you" when you sneeze because when you sneeze, your heart stops for a millisecond.
83
It is physically impossible for pigs to look up into the sky.
84
The "sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick" is said to be the toughest tongue twister in the English language.
85
If you sneeze too hard, you can fracture a rib. If you try to suppress a sneeze, you can rupture a blood vessel in your head or neck and die.
86
Each king in a deck of playing cards represents great king from history. Spades - King David , Clubs - Alexander the Great, Hearts - Charlemagne, Diamonds - Julius Caesar.
87
111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321
88
If a statue of a person in the park on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle.
89
If the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle.
90
If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.
91
Question - This is the only food that doesn't spoil. What is this? Ans. - Honey
92
A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out.
93
A snail can sleep for three years.
94
All polar bears are left handed.
95
American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by eliminating one olive from each salad served in first-class.
96
Butterflies taste with their feet.
97
Elephants are the only animals that can't jump.
98
In the last 4000 years, no new animals have been domesticated.
99
On average, people fear spiders more than they do death.
100
Shakespeare invented the word 'assassination' and 'bump'.
101
Stewardesses is the longest word typed with only the left hand.
102
The ant always falls over on its right side when intoxicated.
103
The electric chair was invented by a dentist.
104
The human heart creates enough pressure when it pumps out to the body to squirt blood 30 feet.
105
Rats multiply so quickly that in 18 months, two rats could have over million descendants.
106
The cigarette lighter was invented before the match.
107
Most lipstick contains fish scales.
108
And finally 99% of people who read this will try to lick their elbow.

BIG Savings!!

I am so excited about the deals that I picked up at CVS and Walgreens - two of my favorite stores! I even got a bargain at the mall! ElderBeerman to be exact. I haven't been to Kroger or Meijer this week but those trips are already planned.

CVS

I got all this for just $.67 oop - used $15 ECB and lots of coupons!

2 Dove Dark Chocolate (my favorite!)
Alavert
2 Garnier Fructis Curl
1 Oral B toothbrush
2 Snicker's Marathon bars (1 not pictured, it's at work)
Teenage Mutant Ninja turtle DVD
2 Nivea Shave Gel
1 Glade Candle
1 Dentyne Fire Gum (B1G1 free package) - used as filler

Received $16.99 ECBs

Walgreens
This was two different Walgreen stores.

#1

Paid $1.33 oop!

2 Jane Mascaras
2 Jane Eye liners
2 Jane Eyeshadows
2 Jane Liquid Lipstick
2 Jane Lip Rounds
Good Housekeeping magazine (I love my magazines!)
2 Oust Sanitizer Sprays
Reese's Minature Peanut Butter Cups (I bought more even though they got me in trouble last week with the scale)
Hershey's Minis

Plus there is a $2 Walgreen rebate ($1 on each) on the Oust Sprays.
#2

Paid $1.02 oop!

2 Jane Compacts
2 Jane Eye liners
2 Jane Foundations
2 Jane Concealers
2 Jane Blush Singles
Oust Candle Holder
Viactiv Multi-Vitamin Flavor Glides

Plus there is a $2 Walgreens rebate on the Oust Candle holder!

Then at ElderBeerman, I bought my son a new pair of Diego pjs and my niece a very cute outfit. My total oop was $8.59 (for $82 worth of clothing)!!


A day of shopping for less than $12 and I will have $4 of that returned in rebates! I love it!

Day 31, Food and Exercise Log

Ok...I'm not sure if it's the walking on the treadmill at night, being active from the time I get home to the time I go to bed, or the time change but I have been extremely tired the past two mornings. I really need to get up in the morning and walk on the treadmill but just can't break the habit of hitting snooze!

Breakfast:
You got it...Tim Horton's Iced Cappucino (made with white milk) - the kids wanted Timbits this morning.
Banana

Snack:
Apple Cinnamon NutriGrain Bar

Lunch:
leftover chili w/crackers
Hunt's sugar free chocolate pudding (I NEED some chocolate!!)

Dinner:
Pulled pork sandwich & coleslaw

Exercise:
2 1/2 miles on the treadmill

Overall thought: I feel pretty good about today (with the exception of not much fruits and veggies). I need to a little more exercise too. Since the weather is warming up, I might pull my bike out and get it ready for spring!

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Earn a Free Flowers from the Kroger Company Family


Spend $30 on Good Housekeeping Seal-backed products when you shop at Kroger Co. Family of Stores using your shopper's card. Earn a coupon for a FREE bouquet of Private Selection Alstroemeria Flowers.

CVS: National Toss Your Makeup Month

From March 30- April 26, CVS will celebrate "National Toss Your Makeup Month". They will have exclusive incentives at their stores and online. For even more savings, pick up the May issue of Good Housekeep. There will be exclusive CVS coupons on products. Some include: Oxy acne solutions, CoverGirl, Physicians Formula, eyeSmart, Curel, Garnier Nutrisse, Neutrogena cosmetics to name a few.

IKEA is opening tomorrow!

Ok, I've checked out IKEA's website and can't figure out what all the fuss is about?!?! The IKEA in West Chester, OH will open it's doors at 9am tomorrow morning. The local news station is already reporting people camping out (as of yesterday). I don't think I would camp outside for the opening of any store... The first 100 people do get a free armchair, is it worth it?!?! Not to me!

Now I was told that the IKEA experience is better than the furniture they sell. In conjuction with that, I was told Ikea is perfect for college students with apartments, or young couples! I wouldn’t furnish my whole house with Ikea furniture but I can get great items like office equipment, shelving, kitchen tools, comforter covers, textiles, kids furniture, and best of all swedish meatballs : )

Have you been to an IKEA store? What are your thoughts?

Day 30, Food and Exercise Log

Ok, I had all intentions of getting up this morning and walking on the treadmill but I was REALLY tired. I don't know if it was because yesterday was the first work day since the daylight savings time change or what. I'll try again tomorrow morning.

Breakfast:
Tim Horton's Iced Cappucino (made with white milk)
Banana

(starting to look like yesterday's log)

Snack:
100 Calorie Pack Hostess Streusal Muffins

Lunch:
Campbell's Soup at Hand - Creamy Chicken
Toasted Cheese sandwich

Snack:
1 serving Flat Earth Apple Cinnamon Chips
Yo Plus Digestive Health Cherry Lowfat Yogurt
(Did a little research on the "Optibalance"then I stopped...I hate reading that I am eating live, good-for-you bacteria. Live?!? Ugh, makes me think something is crawling around in there.)

Want to give it a try? Go to here to get your $1 off coupon.

Dinner:
Chili dog
Cole slaw

Exercise: Woohoo, I did it again!
walked 2 1/2 miles on the treadmill
hand weights
stability ball

I only need 10 1/5 more miles to make my walking goal for this week.

Overall thought: I think I am starting to really like this time change and the weather warming up. I still need to work on the veggies (yuck!).

Monday, March 10, 2008

Get your $2 off $10 CVS /pharmacy Brand

Pick up your “begin a new…healthy routine” pamphlet at your local CVS store. The pamphlet is purple. It has a $2/$10 purchase of CVS/pharmacy brand coupon in it. The best news…the coupon doesn’t expire until May 16, 2008! I was hesitant about picking one up but am now glad I did! I might have to go back and pick up more pamphlets!

Menu Plan Monday 3/10/08

It's Menu Plan Mondays over at "I'm an Organizing Junkie". Last week was the first week I participated in Menu Plan Monday and it was fabulous. I wasn't so stressed over getting dinner ready when I got home from work because I was a woman with a plan! The weekend dinners didn't go as planned but with the birthday party and all the snow we got, I'm ok with it.

Here goes...

Monday: Chili

Tuesday: Chili dogs (with leftover chili from Monday), coleslaw

Wednesday: Pulled BBQ pork, mashed potatoes, corn

Thursday: Southwest Skillet

Friday: Pizza

Saturday: Cheeseburgers, onion rings

Sunday: Pot roast - not sure what I will do with it yet... I don't want the normal pot roast with potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, onions.

Weighing In #5

I didn't meet my goal of losing 3 pounds this week. Instead, I gained 3 pounds. This is very upsetting for me. If I take into account all the changes that have gone on this week and the other issues, I'm surprised that I didn't gain 10 pounds.

I really need to get focused and get my plan down on paper instead of in my head. I'd really like to lose at least 25 pounds before we go on vacation the second week of June. I don't want to go if I am still weighing the same. I will not put a bathing suit on this body!

My exercise routine definitely needs a lot of work. One goal this week is to increase my walking. How? By walking on my treadmill that I have had for almost a year. I believe it has about 40 miles on it. My goal is to walk 15 miles on my treadmill this week. On top of that, I will do weights three days this week. I plan to go to the YMCA at least 3 days this week. Unlike last week, I plan on sticking to it. Now with the weather warming up a bit (40's and 50's), I plan on getting back to walking on break and possibly on my lunch hour. My walking partner was laid off from work so she's no longer here to walk with me.

I hope all my readers that are working on their own weight loss and fitness goals are making better progress than I am.

Coupon Insert News again!

The new Proctor & Gamble P&GbrandSaver coupon booklet will be in the paper on Sunday, April 6.

It will have $67 in savings such as Pampers, Pringles, and Dawn(perfect for CVS shopping)! Find out here if your local paper carries the P&G Brand coupon booklet.

Also, if you have a Kroger Plus card, make sure to visit the P&G eSaver site to add coupons to your card.

Please use your P&GbrandSaver coupons or pass them on to someone that will. During the months of March and April 2008, P&G will donate 1 liter of safer, cleaner drinking water to children in need in developing countries for every coupon redeemed. 1 coupon = 1 liter of water! For more information, check out this site.

Day 29, Food and Exercise Log

Ok, let's see if we can get back on track this week...

Breakfast:
Tim Horton's Iced Cappucino (made with white milk)
Banana

Snack:
100 Calorie Pack - CinnaSwirl Girl Scout Cookies

Lunch:
Soup at Hand - Creamy Chicken
Toasted Cheese sandwich

Snack:
1 serving of Flat Earth Apple Cinnamon Chips

Dinner:
Chili

Exercise: Yes!!!!
2 miles on treadmill
hand weights

The treadmill odometer was at 42. I'm on track to getting the 15 miles in for this week. I am down to only needing 13 more! As far as my eating today, I was rather surprised that it went as well as it did. I thought for sure I would have one of those "feed me chocolate" headaches. No chocolate and no pop for me today!! I really need to build up my breakfast now.

Day 28, Food and Exercise Log

Ugh, not a good day at all. I think it was that we were so rush and wore out. It seemed like with the time change we lost track of time.

Breakfast:
Pineapple Upside down biscuit

Lunch:
2 pieces of Pizza from Chuck E Cheese

Dinner:
Chocolate Mint Milkshake
French Fries
Chicken sandwich

Overall thought: Again the only exercise I really got was shoveling. I shoveled over half of the driveway (we have a double wide driveway...lol). Of course, I took the smaller half and left the snowblower to do back to the detached garage. I did chase the kids around Chuck E Cheese. I'm going to put a plan together and follow it. I'm going to make this week the last week for coffee unless I really start seeing improvements (why would I start back on them if I was seeing improvements?!?). I need to go back to eating my yogurt too. Well, see what the scale has to say...not going to be good. I'll blame it on the Reece's which have been laid to rest!!

Day 27, Food and Exercise Log

WOW! We have snow...and lots of it!

Breakfast:
Egg and Cheese sandwich

Lunch:
Frickin' Chicken Chunks (Kicker)

Snack:
Mini Pineapple Upside down biscuit

Dinner:
Cheeseburger
Mango Berry Daquiri

Overall thought: Well, it wasn't the best day for me. I did get out and do a little bit of shoveling. We spent most of the day out travelling the city looking for birthday presents.

Friday, March 7, 2008

Rite Aid - Week of 3/9 - 3/15

If you like Garnier Fructis products, they are going to be on sale at Rite Aid next week. They will be on sale for $2.99. There are $1 off coupons on most of the displays (I grabbed some last night since I usually by the styling spray gel). Purchase 3 products, use 3 $1 off coupons and pay $5.97 out of pocket. March SCR #10 - $5 back when you buy 3 Garnier products.

Total after coupons and rebates - $.97 for 3 Garnier hair products. To me, this is a great deal because of I love these products!

Did you know that you could get $50 in coupons from Rite Aid? Register here for MyRiteAid and you will get $50 in coupons instantly. Once you have registered, login and choose "My Rite Aid Coupons" under "My Programs". You will have access to print new coupons bi-weekly.

Pancake Mix Recall

Yet another recall...Quaker oats is recalling a limited supply of Aunt Jemima pancake and waffle mixes. The recall includes two and five pound boxes of "Original", "Original Complete" and "Buttermilk Complete." The boxes have "best before" dates of February 8 through february 16, 2009.

Return them to the store for a full refund.

Day 26, Food and Exercise Log

Well, a "major" snow storm is headed our way or at least that's what the meteorologist told me this morning on the news. I'll believe it when I see it!

Breakfast:
Tim Horton's Iced Cappucino (made with white milk)
English muffin with grape jelly
Banana

Lunch:
Boneless Habinero wings

Snack:
4 Reece's Miniature Peanut Butter Cups
**Their gone now! Hopefully the candy jar @ work doesn't get filled back up on Monday!

Dinner:
Grilled Cheese

Overall thought: Snow depresses me! I didn't really think the snow was going to come down like it did and as early as it did. I had plans on getting a salad for lunch but didn't want to go out. So, I'll be bringing soup to stick in my drawer on days like those (which I hope are done for the year!).

Frugal Friday - Make your own trivets

It's Frugal Friday over at Crystal's blog.


I'd have to admit that I've never been one to spend time in the kitchen cooking. Once I had kids, I feel I was forced into the kitchen. I didn't know too much about cooking but I easily faked my way through most of it. I learned quickly that setting a hot pan or dish on the countertop or table will damage it. I used dish towels and pot holders I didn't want to put out the money for trivets so I decided to make my own.



A friend of mine was throwing out some extra ceramic tiles. I took a few of them to use as trivets. To avoid scratching the surfaces, I stuck a few non-slip sticker on each corner on the bottom. Look in the discount tile section of a tile and flooring store or in a home improvement sore for inexpensive tile. You could also check Craigslist or Freecyle for people giving tile away.


Check out other great frugal tips and ideas here.