Making Dinners Archives - Page 4 of 4

August 2, 2010 · in Life of a Wannabe· Making Dinners· Marriage· Random Fun Posts· Video's I've made· Vlog

Our Weekend Getaway!

Sean and I just got back from an amazing weekend at our cabin. As you all know it was our 6 year anniversary, so we thought it would be nice to plan a few nights away, just the two of us. I put together a video of our weekend, it’s not that kind of video you sicko’s 🙂

Here’s the card Sean got me.

June 16, 2010 · in Health· Isagenix· Making Dinners· Parenting

Getting Kids to Eat Heathy

Before I move on to my blog post, just wanted to mention a couple things.

Today is the LAST day to enter my giveaway (2 free nights in the Newpark Hotel in Park City Utah).
I was given the Star Blog Award and was interviewed on the amazing Blog Stylist website. I’m so happy to share this website with you! For all you other bloggers out there, you will just LOVE all the tips and information you’ll find on here about blogging. Bree shares all kinds of blog secrets, inspiration and blogger success stories. Go check it out and see my interview HERE.

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Last night I proudly watched my daughter eat a spinach salad (fresh from our garden), and some orange ruffy fish. You may think I’m bragging a bit, and well… I AM 🙂
To be serious, I’m trying just as much as all you other mothers out there. We all know that getting kids to eat healthy can be like trying to squeeze your butt into a pair of SPANX. Anything BUTT easy 🙂 haha, gosh I’m funny.

My Favorite Breakfast

Today I wanted to share with you a little about why I love the Isagenix shakes so much, and as you can see my kids love them too. We all know what it feels like as a mother to see our kids eating and LIKING something healthy. I try to get my kids to drink half a serving size of one of these each day, and I add this too it as well.

BE A LITTLE SNEAKY
I’ve also been trying to sneak in this Flaxseed anywhere I can, yogurt, mac & cheese, salad ect.

Although flaxseed contains all sorts of healthy components, it owes its healthy reputation primarily to three ingredients:

   * Omega-3 essential fatty acids, “good” fats that have been shown to have heart-healthy effects. Each tablespoon of ground flaxseed contains about 1.8 grams of plant omega-3s.
   * Lignans, which have both plant estrogen and antioxidant qualities. Flaxseed contains 75- 800 times more lignans than other plant foods
   * Fiber. Flaxseed contains both the soluble and insoluble types.

Sometimes I’ll even add spinach to the shakes, and amazingly my kids don’t even know the difference when you add a banana along with it. The flavor of the banana completely overrides the taste of the spinach.

CONSISTENCY IS THE KEY
I’ve read somewhere that the key to getting kids to eat healthy is to try, try, and try again. Kids will usually turn their noses up to most anything new, unless it’s dessert or candy of some sort. So with a little bribery and consistency, I’ve been able to get Lily to eat more than just mac & cheese and chicken nuggets.
When ever I make something new she’s never had before, I tell her, all she has to do is take ONE bite. If she doesn’t like it, she doesn’t have to eat it. I will continue to make her try it each time I make it. She hated fish at first, but now she eats it without any fuss. For us, every Tuesday is fish day. We all know how healthy fish is, so I try to make it part of our weekly menu. I still can’t get Oliver to eat it, but I continue to try 🙂

A LITTLE BRIBERY GOES A LONG WAY
It never hurts to bribe your child with treats 🙂 The ONLY way I can get Lily to eat all her dinner is to offer a really yummy treat for finishing it. Works every time!

7 Reasons Why ISAGENIX IsaLean® Tops Other Meal Replacement Shakes

Just what is it that makes the IsaLean® Shakes superior to other meal replacement drinks? The no-compromise, quality ingredients! We’re bombarded every day by product advertisements for drinks that are filled with mediocre and sometimes suspicious ingredients. Companies might say the products help people lose weight quickly, but they’re lacking in nutrition and often unsafe and unreliable for long-term weight loss.

IsaLean Shakes are different. Isagenix uses only high-quality ingredients to create the perfect balance of protein, carbs and fats designed to boost metabolism and weight loss while preserving muscle and promoting health.

I’ve got the lowdown on why the nutrient-dense shakes top the competition and have helped hundreds of thousands of people to shed unwanted pounds and achieve optimum health. Join us in our million-blender vision and ask everybody you know to start the day off with the blender and an IsaLean® Shake, not the frying pan. They’ll boost their health, feel better and lose weight!

7 Reasons Why IsaLean® Shakes Beat Out the Competition

1. Low, Low Sugar. Our shakes have far less sugar than other meal replacement drinks. Try half the sugar than you’ll find in Slim-Fast Original Shakes.

2. Fill ‘Er Up. Our shakes have seven grams of dietary fiber to help you feel fuller, keep blood sugar stable and support heart and colon health. Other shakes like Myoplex® Original have half the fiber, which could leave you with a half-empty tank and scrounging for snacks later.

3. Charge Your Batteries. Our shakes are packed with 16 vitamins and minerals, which means you won’t run out of steam halfway through the day. IsaLean® Shakes have more vitamins and minerals including vitamins A, C, D, E, B6 and B12 than what you’ll find in Herbalife® ShapeWorks® Shakes.

4. Complex & Complete. Our shakes are engineered with the right balance of proteins, carbohydrates and fat, which boost your metabolism and help you lose weight.

5. Break It Down. Our shakes have the digestive enzymes many people lack in order to facilitate proper digestion and absorption of nutrients. This process helps to break down the carbs, protein and fat for maximum results.

6. Lose the Pounds, Not the Nutrition. Our shakes give you optimal nutrition, not just rapid weight loss. Unlike other companies, we use the highest quality ingredients, which produce the highest quality results.

7. Pure as Gold.Our shakes include the highest quality of whey protein, dairy farmed in New Zealand because of its purity and fabulous taste. It’s also antibiotic and steroid-free.

* How IsaLean® Shakes Stack Up Against Other Brands:

* Herbalife® ShapeWorks® Shakes — Isagenix has 3-times the protein and more vitamins and minerals including vitamins A, C, D, E, B6 and B12.

* Slim-Fast Optima® Shakes (ready to drink) — Isagenix has twice the protein and less fat and sugar.

* Slim-Fast Optima® Shakes (powders) —Isagenix has 10x more protein and more dietary fiber.

* Slim-Fast Original Shakes — Isagenix has twice the protein, less sodium and carbohydrates, half the sugar and more dietary fiber.

* GNC Lean Shake™ — Isagenix has nearly 3x the protein, less sodium and carbohydrates.

* Myoplex® Original — Isagenix has less calories, cholesterol and sodium and twice the dietary fiber.

* Myoplex® Lite and Deluxe — Isagenix has half the sodium and more dietary fiber.

May 17, 2010 · in Inspiration· Isagenix· Making Dinners· Saving Money

Wanna BE Debt FREE?

We all come from different financial backgrounds. Some grow up learning healthy spending habits, and others, like me, learn that SAVING….. isn’t an option. I learned that you work hard to make money, and SPEND it ALL as fast as possible. My dad was a very hard worker, and taught me well when it came to work ethics, but as far as spending habits……well, that’s another story, and I’m about to tell you about it.

As soon as I hit 18 and graduated high school, I was anxious to set out for a whole new life of independence, with little education on finances. I moved out to Arizona with my best friend, and wanted to experience it all. Started school, got the apartment, furniture, new car, new clothes. Oh yah, I was livin it up….

On CREDIT! Teenagers should NOT be allowed to have credit cards, DANGEROUS combination.

My new FAVORITE movie in the whole world is Confessions of a Shopaholic. This movie is all too familiar for me. I put together a little clip of my favorite parts in the movie that best describes how naive I was at this age, it’s freaky how much I can relate.

Credit cards, better known as “magic cards”…………. stores “awakening a lust for things you never even knew you needed”………….. and justifying spending, by labeling it as,

“AN INVESTMENT”.

Okay, so back to my story about how I was livin it up.

Well, it wasn’t long until the credit card debt caught up to me, and I was paying minimum payents on multiple credit cards. I felt the weight of debt on my shoulders daily, causing me WAY too much stress.

I was always working two jobs to get caught up. I had my car payment, insurance, rent, food, gas, ect. But at that point it was too late. After only a year living on my own, I was in way over my head with debt exceeding $20,000. I had no choice but to quit school and move back home.

Completely clueless that paying the minimum payment on credit cards was a BAD thing….

I was thinking about serving an LDS mission, but one of the requirements was to be debt free. So, I sold my car, worked 2 jobs, and started taking the BUS everywhere. It was a tough lesson to learn, but eventually I got the debt paid off, HUGE relief, and I was ready for my mission.

Missions are a lot of work, with long exhausting days, but I enjoyed a financially stress free life. No bills to worry about, just a monthy budget to cover food and what ever else we NEEDED. It was such a simple life now when I look back.

So when I got home I thought, NOW I am ready in every way to take on life. I thought there was no way I was going to screw up again. I tried to keep things in perspective and only buy what I NEEDED like I learned on my mission. Pretty soon I found myself falling back into the same trap, and my WANTS became needs. I was lucky enough to get a job right away when I got home, so I immediately bought a car, got a cell phone and a credit card. I’m not sure how it happened AGAIN, but only 5 months after being home, my credit card debt was up to $5,000. Wasn’t quite as bad as before, but the stress of it was back full force. You’d think I would have learned my lesson the first time, right! Sometimes it takes a few times of screwing up before we get it through our heads. Luckily I met my husband at that point and he saved me from MYSELF. So, in other words, MARRY RICH 🙂 haha, thanks honey for paying my debt for me. Unfortunately, my $5,000 of debt was all I had to bring to the table 🙂

“When we go into debt, we give away some of our precious, priceless agency and place ourselves in self-imposed servitude. We obligate our time, energy, and means to repay what we have borrowed- resources that could have been used to help ourselves, our families, and others…”

-Robert D. Hales

My husband was brought up learning much better spending habits than I ever did. Which in fact caused us to butt heads a lot in the beginning. My husband wants to save EVERYTHING, and I want to SPEND IT ALL. It took us a few years, but we’ve come to a happy medium. I’m much better at budgeting and saving, because I have a monthly budget. I now use a debit card, not a credit card, bounced a few checks here and there.

I still wonder why the bank clerk is so confused when I try paying my overdraft fee with a check from the same checking account 🙂 ………….hmmmmm.

I’m learning.

And as for Sean, he’s learning to SPEND a little and enjoy more, like go on vacations even if it costs money:), only if we HAVE the funds of course. I always tell him that he can be in charge of the saving, and I’ll be happy to take on the VERY tough responsibility of spending.

I’ve actually really learned to enjoy saving money any way I can. Not so I can stash it away in a savings account, hah, yeah right, but so I can SPEND more. Like I said, I leave that up to Sean 🙂

“We need to understand the consequences of buying on credit and not living within a budget. “

“ Meals prepared and eaten at home generally cost less, are healthier, and contribute to stronger relationships.”

-Julie B. Beck

Five Steps to financial freedom

First, pay tithing/donate.

Second, spend less than you earn.

Third, learn to save.

Fourth, teach children to follow your example.

-Joseph B. Wirthlin

Don’t forget to enter my giveaway HERE. We’re giving away a FREE acne clearing kit. To see my before and after pics, go HERE.

Enjoy Financial Freedom:

Watch how we were introduced to Isagenix, and now enjoy a debt free life:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRaW8M-jYmU
Supplemental Home Based Business Opportunity:http://www.cleansefreedom.com/

May 4, 2010 · in Making Dinners

Tempt My Tummy Tuesday-Dinner Attempts

Well folks, I done it again. Another, almost, successful meal. This week I decided to play along with Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays over at Blessed with Grace, by sharing my recent masterpiece.

Chicken and Cheese Turnovers

I got the recipe from Running Away.

I’m always up for making a quick, simple, and somewhat healthy meal. And this one was SO easy, and tasted great!

I used an already cooked rotisserie chicken, that right there cuts the time in half.

A can of corn, can of cream of chicken soup, some cheese, and WALAA!!!

Okay, now here’s where I screwed up. I have a serious problem……… I don’t like to read the directions. One of my former mission companions goal in our companionship was to teach me to READ THE DIRECTIONS!!!! She noticed my problem early on, and set out to cure me of this disease.

Needless to say, her efforts were in vain.

Do you like my different shapes?

I did it on purpose 🙂

Okay, I’m lying.

The recipe actually calls for PIE CRUST, not pizza crust!!!

It all turned out okay I guess 🙂 Still tasted great!

I even managed to make HOME MADE cookies…………….serious, I made them from scratch!!!!

Oh, haha, my silly daughter, she just likes to hold the pre made cookie dough box, um so she can compare ours with theirs :):):):)

A moms gotta do what a moms gotta do. I’ll do anything to save a little time 🙂

February 17, 2010 · in Making Dinners

I’m so DOMESTICATED!

Wow, look at me, such a great housewife I am, apron on and everything. I actually just threw it on for the picture 🙂 trying to pull off the domesticated look. (oh, and my sweet daughter took the picture, that’s why my head is cut off)

Okay, I’m not really that great, this is one of the very few days I actually cooked. I’m working on that one.

Don’t you feel like dinner can be SO overwhelming sometimes? I try to plan out a weekly menu, put together the grocery list, and have it all ready to go. Rarely does it ACTUALLY happen, but hey, I’m tryin. I would like to be sure that my kids are getting healthy meals every night, but it can be quite the chore to actually pull it off. I do have a few tips up my sleeve, but I assure you, I don’t always FOLLOW the tips I share. I’m just trying each day, just like the rest of us moms.

I’m pretty proud of this one though:)

So, the other night I made a yummy dinner, typical American meal, meat, mashed potatoes, and some veggies. I made way too much mashed potatoes and just HATE left overs, nobody ends up eating them, but I don’t like to through it out. So what I did, and often times do now, is I googled mashed potato recipe’s, and this is what I found. I also happened to have all the ingredients to make it!

So this is what I made the following night with my leftovers 🙂

Simply Recipes Shepherds Pie. I’ve eaten this before, but this was my first time actually making it 🙂

Here’s all you need. The leftover potato’s are in the ziploc. That’s another one of my tips, although not very “GREEN” of me. I like to put leftovers in ziplocs so I can just throw them away if we didn’t eat it all, and not have to wash the dish. I’m saving water that way though right? So, that’s being green???

You just pretty much saute the onions and brown the meat. I know the meat looks gross, but my sister actually taught me this trick.

Buy the family size hamburger (also save money that way), then divide it up, adding about a pound of it into it’s own ziploc. Flatten it once it’s in the bag, date it and toss into the freezer. Then when you’re ready to use, it thaws out much faster 🙂

And here’s the finished product!!!!!! Proud moment for me 🙂

I have a giveaway going on right now, CUTE jewelry, ends Feb. 28th. Click here to enter.

Our Weekend Getaway!

Getting Kids to Eat Heathy

Wanna BE Debt FREE?

Tempt My Tummy Tuesday-Dinner Attempts

I’m so DOMESTICATED!

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