Meal Planning

Meal plan for this week was not too adventurous, in fact it was quite boring :-( because I was working with what I already had in my fridge and pantry. Hubby seems to be fine with this new mission, I hope it lasts!

Monday Brown Rice, mixed vegetables and tomato stew with turkey

Tuesday Okra(with shrimps, mushrooms and spinach) and Oat Fufu

Wednesday Pasta and ground turkey sauce

Thursday Black Bean Salad and Fish Tacos

Friday Roasted Potatoes and Peas and Sweet Corn and Tilapia filet

Seriously Need to Give Meal Planning a Try

Pardon my absence, this past week has been quite busy with going back to work, I had to adjust to missing my babies and getting my brain back to work mode. Alas, I have survived one week and this long holiday weekend could not have come at a better time.

Something I have been meaning to try but failed and failed again is meal/menu planning, its a wonderful idea for many reasons:

• Shop for groceries within you meal plan in mind which would save dollars!
• Not having to think too much of what to cook for your family - less stress
• See if you have variety or lack there of in your meals 
• See if you are eating healthy week to week
• Eat out less, again saves BIG dollars!
• Less trips to the grocery store
• Plan for busy days - leftovers anyone?
• Waste less groceries since you will use exactly what you have

So the main reason for my many failed attempts is that somehow I deviate for the plan, which totally defeats the purpose, or I write recipes (from the tons I have saved on Pinterest) and when it comes to executing them it's and ultimate failure, or my hubby requests to eat something different even though I have shared the meal plan with him.

To make this different, I am going to work with what I have in my fridge since I did my bi-monthly grocery shopping already :-(, stick the meal plan on the refrigerator with a magnet so that its constantly visible for all to see, and I will prep food a few days before it is needed e.g chop onions, marinate meats etc

The next big thing for me after this is to buy a slow-cooker, I've heard great things about using this for one pot meals, I can throw my ingredients in it the night before and have it ready the next day, how cool! Any recommendations?

Will share my meals and give you an update in the next post!

Full Time Working Mommy

Today was my first day back at work after 4 months of maternity leave, I was not sure whether or not to look forward to this day because I was torn between wanting to stay home with my babies and raise them up for the first few years but due to our goals, I had to go back to work for the short-term, I dont know how short this period is, but I'm just going with the flow. I admit it was nice to see my coworkers, I didn't miss them or the 1000 emails waiting in my mailbox but the air was definitely different in a good way. Someone told me that mothers get emotional and cry when going back to work, for some reason I did not. I felt confident in this next step and I did look at the pictures of my girls on my mobile many times during the day, I longed to hug and kiss them!

I have to end it with three things I am thankful for today:

I am thankful for the HR director that got a Mothers room set up just for me, the old one was packed up because we are moving our office location in a few weeks

I am thankful, that I do have a job, coming back to work, I heard of several of my colleagues who were let go from their positions

I am thankful that my babies are in good care at my home with my mother, I don't have to pay dime and most importantly, its someone I can trust

Happy Mothers Day! Oh what joy it is to having loving mothers and to be a mother, today I celebrate all mothers!

Cheap Date

Last year my husband and I went through the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University program, check it out a www.fpu.com I highly recommend this to everyone, no matter your financial situation, we've always had different approaches and understanding of how to approach our finances and this gave us some common ground and lots of information that we were not aware of. 

So the focus this year has been to be practical and work hard on saving, investing, and paying off debt. Ultimately, we want to make sure we leave an inheritance for our children's children and stop the cycle of bad habits. In looking into alternative ways of cutting costs, we took the scissors to our date budget, we used to have dates once a week (before kids) and it could be anything from dinner and a movie to concerts etc etc. Now with our 4 month old babies we don't have that much time for a date, and we have not had one in months. It's honestly very hard for me to leave my babies for too long in anyone's care, ugh! 

However, a couple of days ago, we decided to create time to have a date. Now, this had to be a cheap date, I consider a date to be spending valuable time together doing something you enjoy and just enjoying each others company. We were home alone with the babies, I gave them a bath and put them to bed, like I said, our date budget is very cheap, when I say cheap, I mean $10 cheap! It was going to be a pizza and a movie night kinda date. At first, I wanted to order food with my $100 restaurant.com coupon, but you can't place a delivery order with that coupon, you have to dine-in. Oh well :-( Since we needed the food quick and cheap, we decided frozen pizza would be best, we looked up recommendations for the best frozen pizza, and for the movie we went with Blockbuster express kiosk, both of which will be picked up at the grocery store 1 block away. Being the "get the good deal" girl that I am, I looked up to see if there were any deals on the movie and lo and behold I found out you can get up to $3 off a movie, amazing! So our movie was free, check it out here http://www.coupondad.net/blog/blockbuster-express-free-rental-codes/ . We topped it up with frozen greek yoghurt (now I truly feel spoiled!) for dessert, yum!

So there you go a cheap date, no dress up needed, no babysitter, not a lot of money spent. I know its just temporary and what matters to me is to continue to connect and build up my marriage, so the pricey dates can come later. Do you have any cheap date ideas?

The Drink of Choice

I love the taste of water, I can hardly drink anything else. Nothing quenches my thirst any better and it is almost impossible for me to eat a meal with anything else than water! Does this sound like you?

The truth is that description up there is totally ME, the fact that I drink a lot of water is not something I learned, it has always been this way. Soda makes me unnecessary full that I cannot enjoy a meal but water is just right. If this is natural to you, don’t worry, I have some tips for you to help with your water intake.

First off, I’m sure you want to know why it is important to drink water anyway, here are some of my favorites:

1)      Great Skin – hydration helps your skin, wards off wrinkles

2)      Removes hunger – drinking a full glass of water leaves you satisfied enough to not over indulge in food. Most times when you are hungry, it is actually water calling…

3)      Boosts your energy level, for me a good tall glass of water can wipe away any headache, it’s amazing!

4)      Helps prevent and cure diseases – from the common cold to hypertension, to cancer, to arthritis, to high cholesterol, you name it…

5)      Helps you cool down – it regulates your body temperature especially in these hot and humid summer months

After all your body is about 75% water.

There are many issues to get into when it comes to drinking water, we know all water is not created equal, should it be from the tap, bottled water, filtered and purified? As for me I just keep it simple -  filtered water at work and filtered water at home. When outside I have to resort to bottled water, it’s just easier that way and I pray whatever toxins that exist get flushed out somehow.

My advice is follow the rule of drinking 8 cups of water a day (from 8-ounce cups) http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/water/NU00283

How do you drink more?

-          If you are sitting at a desk like at work where you spend 8 hours or more of your day. Invest in a water bottle with markings that show the volume/capacity of the container, helps you keep track of your intake

-          If you don’t like the taste of water, try adding a slices of lemon/lime or be fancy and add slices of cucumber, instantly changes the taste

-          Decide the temperature of water you prefer and stick to it e.g room temperature, ice cold or lukewarm

Want a challenge? I challenge you to 7 days on only water and no other drink – coffee, tea, soda, sugary drinks, juice, or alcohol. At the end of 7 days please share how you feel. I feel a little sorry for the coffee drinkers who might feel withdrawal symptoms!

From Start to Finish

Have you ever read the Bible from start to finish? Ever tried to? Don't know where to start? Well, let me introduce you to Youversion.com . Download the app on your phone, IPad, Laptop etc and choose the type of reading plan you would like to use, I am currently studying the whole book using the Chronological plan, I find that sometimes I get lost in the geography and history of the Bible times (especially the Old Testament) and so I choose this plan to help take me through the book in that order.

Now, truthfully, I have missed some days but the program allows you to catch up. Honestly, there are some "boring" parts of the Bible and reading those verses can seem like a chore, so I make sure to pray before hand to ask God to reveal to me what He wants me to know and I ask the Holy Spirit to teach me something new, also I turn on the audio and just listen intently to the reading (somehow that kinda helps to make it go down easier).

I know I can do this, you can too!

Congrats Bambino/Bambina Rancic!

I don't typically follow the details of celebrity lives, even if they post it out there for all to see like the "K....shian" family, but this couple is one that I have definitely followed from Day 1, they seem like very sincere individuals as portrayed on their show, Giuliana and Bill. Whether or not its all an act, I do believe that their love is real and I was more intrigued when they were going through a trying time in starting to conceive.

I totally related with a lot of the emotions, I cried when she did, I got goose pimples watching some episodes, but I was truly inspired and took Bill's encouraging words to heart, he is such a great husband! So when I heard the news last week that they are expecting a baby this summer, I was so elated! I am truly happy for this couple and I pray for great success for the rest of the pregnancy and this new stage of their lives as parents. GREAT things come to those who wait. Awesome!