Rising to the Challenge

I have never been a runner. Growing up, I was always told that I could not run due to my breathing problems. I always believed it, partly because I couldn't breathe when I ran. Had I only known. Part of the problem was dairy. In the last three years, I've learned that I am very sensitive to dairy. I've learned that dairy is mucus producing, and helped close up my airways. I've posted before about how about a year ago I was tricked into running a mile for the first time in my life. Now, I regularly run 3 to 5 miles at a time and am training for my first half marathon. I'm still really slow, though, or so I thought. My fastest mile time was just over 10 minutes

This week at my fitness class, the trainer issued a mile challenge. Every class begins with a timed mile run.  Monday, I was not feeling well and could not complete the mile challenge. My husband and 14yo ds did, though. DH did great at just under 9 minutes. DS did ok, but did not run the whole way. When he runs, he is fast, but he hasn't quite grasped the idea of pacing yet. He ran about the first half mile, then walked a lot, then ran a bit at the end. He still came in under 10 minutes. Yesterday (Tuesday), I was feeling better and set my goal to come in under 10 minutes. DS did not want to run again. I pushed harder than I ever imagined, and finished in 9:05. I was in shock. It took me a couple hours to catch my breath after that, but I was still really excited. In fact, I had to tutor math after that and started to lose my voice. I decided to try a teaspoon of honey to see if that would help. It did. I took the honey, and then a glass of water and instantly felt better.

Today, was a very different story. Today, I threw down a challenge to the 14yo to see if he would rise to the challenge and beat me. I knew very well that he was capable of it. He does not suffer from my breathing afflictions. I also set a goal to come in under 9 minutes. I started out a little slower than yesterday, because that's when I tend to have the most trouble breathing. Once I start having trouble, it's hard to get my breath back. It turned out to be a great strategy. I did rise to the challenge and finished in 8:43. The teenager also rose to the challenge. He ran the whole mile and came in well ahead of me. He was greatly rewarded for his efforts too. I also have to say, that today I felt so much better than yesterday too. I did not have any trouble catching my breath when I was finished. I'm even thinking that tomorrow I can give a bit more and get under 8:30.

Reflections and Resolutions

As I look at my life today, compared to where I was 3 years ago, I almost can't remember who I was then. I have come such a long way, and can't begin to describe how good I feel. This is the person God intended for me to be. I know I still have a long way to go. I will continue to trust God to lead my path.

What were my goals for 2012? I had two main goals. The first was to revamp our budget following the Dave Ramsey Plan. The second was to run a 5k (actually one per quarter). We made some progress with the financial goals, but ran into some challenges in that arena around September. As for the 5k, that was easy. I only did two actual 5k races, but I also did three 5k obstacle races. That was not something I ever dreamed that I would do. I had this phobia of dirt and mud. Not to mention how physically challenging it is. Not anymore. I did the first one in March. I had to overcome a ton of fears to do that. It helped that my family, and especially my husband, was there supporting me and cheering me on. The better part was that it inspired them. In October, when it was time for the second race, my husband and 14yo son ran with me. Then, in November, we did a different one that actually had a kids' race that my 10yo could run. Well, he mostly walked it because he was getting over being sick, but he still had fun. Overall, 2012 was a good year.

That brings me to today. The first of January, 2013. As I look ahead, I am excited for what this year holds. We have a couple things planned already. My husband and I have discussed our financial goals. I have one absolutely crazy thought in the back of my head that I am going to work on making a reality.

I think by far the biggest event this year will be my oldest starting high school. I'm not sure if I'm more or less stressed about homeschooling high school than I would be if he were in school. I think it would be stressful either way. He will also be eligible to take his permit test in September and start driving. EEEEK!! Maybe a job for him would be a good goal to throw in there too.

For my 10yo, the goal is to get his digestive issues under control. Some days it seems like we're making progress, and then others not so much. At this point, I am not worried one bit about his schooling. He is so far ahead in everything that whatever he does is fantastic. Yesterday, I order the GAPS Diet book to see if that will help.

On the fitness front this year, we are thinking beyond crazy. I am still attending my fitness classes, usually five days a week. In March or April, my husband started as well. He generally only gets 3 or 4 classes at the most due to work, but it is amazing the difference it has made in him. I'm sure you can guess my crazy goal after easily completing the 5k's last year. I am already registered for my first half marathon in March. I'm thinking a full in the fall. My husband has no desire to run 13 or 26 miles. That is far too boring for him. He loved doing the mud/obstacle races, though. His plan is for the Tough Mudder this spring. That is a crazy 11 or 12 mile obstacle race. Since I can't let him have all the fun, I will be doing that with him. That one is so insane that you have to be 18 to participate, so no kids for that. My goal is to get farther than the first rung on the monkey bars. DH has installed a chin up/pull up bar in the garage to aid in reaching that goal.

On the financial front, I think where we went wrong last year is that we didn't have a concrete goal. We broke down and attended Financial Peace University in September. This year we've set our concrete goal to finish baby step 3 by December 31. Now we just have to figure out how to make that happen. This will be like another obstacle race. We have to make it happen along with needing a new washer/dryer, a roof on the house, a fence for the back yard, and pay for all our races. We probably also need to think about a second car. Then, there's that other crazy idea in the back of my head. I'm going to leave you in suspense on that one for now. Oh, there's also talk about a trip to go visit family this summer. Why can't this be simple like the fitness goals? Maybe the side goal of chickens could help with this a bit. I did recently find out that I get to review homeschool curriculum again, so hopefully that can at least help in the spending department.

Cinnamon Muffins

The thing about whole food eating is that sometimes it is difficult to fit all the food we need into the budget. Lately, it has been an enormous challenge. With little one on a severely restricted diet, and trying to pay for chiropractor visits, I am at the end of the rope. We are out of budget, out of meat, out of fresh fruit, and nearly out of eggs. I do, however, have a huge stockpile of grains, beans, and homemade chicken broth. I also have a teenager that needs to pack a lunch today for classes he attends once a week. Why do I always forget about that until late Sunday evening, and then freak out? There's that organization and procrastination thing again. Thankfully, this time change thing has me waking up at 5am again. I was able to get up and make some fantastic muffins for him to put in his lunch. I also put a frozen banana and some frozen strawberries in there. That should thaw out and be sufficiently mushy by the time he eats it. Sorry sweetie, it's either that or cold mashed potatoes. I taste tested one of the muffins, and they are really delicious.

I really only have one muffin recipe, that I continually adapt to various ingredients I have on hand. Today, it was about using grains that are not as toxic for little one and trying to make them without eggs. Little one showed very sensitive to wheat, but not as much to spelt and barley (even though those are forms of wheat). I used chia seeds as an egg replacer. I am not vegan, but I do read a lot of fantastic vegan blogs because they have tons of great ideas and recipes on them. I've seen the idea many times, but just never got around to trying it. It's true, necessity really is the mother of invention. Here's your muffin recipe.

Step 1: Mix 3 Tbsp of ground chia seeds with 9 Tbsp of water. Mix well and let sit for about 10 minutes to form a goopy gel. (1 Tbsp chia/3 Tbsp water = one egg) If you do the math, you can use 3 eggs instead of chia seeds. I hear flax seed meal makes a good egg substitute as well. Same ratio as the chia.

Step 2: I had to melt the coconut oil this morning. It is 2/3 cup of liquid coconut oil.

Step 3: Mix the dry ingredients.

• 1 cup spelt flour
• 1 cup barley flour
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup raw sugar
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Step 4: Mix the dry ingredients with the coconut oil and the chia seed gel.

Step 5: Scoop into greased muffin pan (about 12 muffins). Bake at 350 degrees F for about 30 minutes. I use a stone muffin pan, so I don't use paper liners, but that would work too. 
 

What is Encopresis?

That is the question of the decade, at least in my house. I had never heard the term until about 3 months ago. I wish I'd heard it 3 years ago, or more. My youngest son has suffered from this for about the last 6 years. I could give you an official medical definition or dictionary definition, but I won't. I'm not a doctor, just a mom who wants the best for my kids. Encopresis is a fancy word for fecal incontinence. Still too technical? Basically it means you can't control when poop comes out.

As you can imagine, this has lead to some very embarrassing situations as well as some laundry nightmares. Some of you may ask, then why would you want to write about it all on the internet for the whole wide world to see? If I can help one mom, or one child from suffering it is worth it. The problem started...well, I'm not really sure when. It seems like it has just always been. We just dealt with it for a while thinking it was just normal and he would outgrow it. I remember at one point, going to the pediatrician for a well visit and mentioning the problem. She quickly wrote a prescription for a laxative, saying it was due to constipation. We gave him the prescribed dosage, and proceeded to try giving him more foods to help and less that would stop things up. The medicine ran out, and we were still at square one. We had many ups and downs. There were days when everything was fine, and then many days in a row when it seemed like endless trouble. Yet, we remained confident that he would just outgrow it.

Fast forward to August. I finally came to the realization that he is not going to outgrow this. I went in search of answers. That's when we were finally given a diagnosis of encopresis. Yes, it is related to constipation. Even though we've tried to adjust his diet, he was still constipated. Another related problem is bedwetting. I know they are related, because when we have a bad day with one, it is usually followed or preceded by a bad night of the other.

What are we doing now? We started chiropractic care, including some food sensitivity testing. That has lead us to make even more drastic dietary changes. We have cut out dairy, wheat, oats, corn, and peanuts. That is a difficult challenge for a kid who eats nothing but peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch. I have actually enjoyed the challenge at home. I love coming up with new recipes and figuring out creative ways to make old favorites. Like, the other night we had gluten free/dairy free macaroni and cheese. I will share that sometime this week. We were finally starting to see some progress. It seemed like it had been about two weeks with no issues. Last Monday, we finally found a new pediatrician. He is very much on the same page as us and wanting to treat this as holistically as possible. He said we are on the right track with his diet, gave us a recommendation for some probiotics, vitamins, and peppermint oil. We have been using probiotics, but we are giving the ones he recommended a try. However, due to cost factor and the fact that the one we were using actually has more strains of bacteria, we probably won't stay with it. I also finally got some kefir grains to add in more probiotics. That leads us to today. All dairy, even fermented, is a definite no, no. It seemed ok with goat milk, but not cow. Unfortunately, I can only get goat milk on Saturdays, and not every Saturday. My next task is to locate some water kefir grains. Not only would it be cheaper, but no worries about running out of water. I like the idea of milk kefir, though, because of the added protein. I love how much easier kefir is than making yogurt too. I tried that project once.

The biggest challenge with the dietary restrictions is when we leave the house. We end up at places, like church, that have a grand buffet of food available. Of course, everyone's favorites are sugar-laden treats made from flour, or a more savory variety covered in cheese. I totally get it. It's tasty stuff. I have a hard time resisting at times. I can't imagine how hard it is for a 10 year old. I know what I need to do. I need to plan ahead and bring a tasty buffet just for him filled with foods he can eat. That, however, involves being organized and not procrastinating. That pretty much hits the nail on the head of my biggest challenge in life. I'm hoping, that by writing about our journey will help bring me some more focused intensity. Today was a very bad day at church, so we'll see how bad the consequences are from that. Tomorrow is a new day. We will start fresh again.

Taco Tuesday

Everyone keeps asking me what I eat. I am going to try to post daily (or as close as I can get) for a couple of weeks to inspire you. Today was Taco Tuesday. My family loves tacos. Well, except for my 8yo. He only eats the tortillas. I gave him an apple with his tortillas. He is at that age where all his food has to be just so, and he will only eat about 10 things. I just do the best I can to fill him up. I know he will outgrow this stage. His brother did. Now my 12yo is on the see food diet. You know, the one where you see food and eat it. Though he still has a bit of an aversion to green vegetables. We are still working on that. What does Taco Tuesday consist of? Three things for which you need a recipe. The rest you can just add what you like.

Taco Meat:
For my family, I use two pounds of meat. That ensures we are all full, and a little extra for lunch the next day. Tonight it was beef. I usually use ground turkey. One time, hubby even ran some chicken breasts through the meat grinder attachment for my stand mixer. That was quite tasty. Just brown the meat. When the meat is browned, you are ready to add your seasoning. Don't drain all the fat, it will give your tacos a better texture.

Seasoning for the Meat:
I make my own. Most commercial season mixes contain some form of MSG, which should be avoided. Actually, it took me a while to find a good chili powder that didn't contain MSG. I finally found a good organic chili powder from a co-op. Wal-mart has some in the Latin section that are just dried chiles. If you use that, I would suggest using a bit less and adding more cumin. My recipe is as follows for 2 lbs of meat: 1/4 cup chili powder, 1 Tbsp cumin, 1 tsp sea salt, 2 tsp garlic powder, 2 tsp onion powder, 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 to 1 cup water. Mix all ingredients together before adding to the meat. One time I tried just adding each ingredient to the meat, it turned into a runny mess. About the flour, do not use whole wheat flour from the store. There is no reason other than taste. It does not taste good. I use my fresh ground wheat. If you don't have that available to you, go with an all purpose flour. I wouldn't recommend that for anything else. We all know white processed flour is not good for us.

Salsa:
This is really a preference thing. I will post what we do, but you will need to adjust the recipe to your taste (especially the heat of the peppers).

• 3 Tomatoes (the bigger, the better)
• 2 bell peppers (any color will do, but I like to switch it up to make it look pretty)
• 5 jalapenos (this used to be really hot for me, but I've worked up to it. If you are not a spicy lover, start with 2)
• handful of cilantro
• juice of one lemon and one lime
• garlic to taste (I think I usually use about 3 cloves)
• one onion (I usually use white or yellow, but I really like red onion)

It's not hard to make. I pretty much just chop everything up and throw it in a bowl. I prefer to use my food chopper for the onion and bell peppers. I use the food processor for the tomatoes, jalapenos, and cilantro. For the garlic, I just use the press. A professional chef, I am not.

The Tortillas:

Yes, I even make those from scratch. Though, it would be much easier if I had a tortilla press. I just use a rolling pin and my pancake griddle. I cannot share the recipe, because it is from a book. I did not alter it in any way. Visit here to view the cookbook. This happens to be the same book where I get one of my bread recipes, and much more. This is also one of the sources I use to order my grain.

Tonight, I ate my tacos on the shell and threw in a bit of lettuce, spinach, and broccoli slaw. Sometimes, I'll just make it a salad and throw in a bunch more stuff. I like corn, kidney beans, tortilla chips, or whatever is in my refrigerator.

New Year Recipes

This year, I would like to take some time to post more recipe and meal ideas on my blog. Many of my friends keep asking me, "What do you eat?" I want to be able to share some of those things with you.

Really, I eat the same things I ate before. Now, I just have to substitute some ingredients and make everything from scratch. I think the best way I can help you, is for you to tell me what you eat. I want to know your family's favorite meals. I will make it my mission to come up with a recipe that I would eat.

A few notes:

1. I am not a doctor.
2. The things that are healthy for me, may not be the best option for you.
3. I am just a mom trying to feed my family the best food I can, based on the information I have at the time.
4. I am not a chef, but spend a lot of time watching them on TV. I find it very helpful to understand the science behind cooking.
5. If your favorite meal is lasagna, I will probably not be able to come up with a recipe for that. You may just have to use your recipe, but limit it to once a month.

There you have it. Tell me your favorite meals. Tell your friends to post their favorite meals. Oh, and not just meals, but desserts too. I love to bake. Even more than that, I love eating what I bake. Maybe you shouldn't send me desserts.

One Year Later

One year ago, I embarked on a journey. Well, actually, it was a three month weight loss/healthy gain contest. I can do anything for three months, right? Even though it was only for three months, I had my doubts as to whether or not I'd be able to do it. You see, one year ago, I was highly addicted to food. I was even more addicted to sweet food. I was most addicted to ice cream. I had struggled for the last 12 years, since my oldest son was born, to lose the weight. I had tried diets, but was seriously unsuccessful. I failed because I did not have the tools nor the proper information to succeed.

What was different this time?

1. It was a contest. I am just slightly competitive.
2. It had a deadline. In three months, when it didn't work, I could go back to the way I had been living and be just fine.
3. I was ready. Seeing some of the health struggles that older relatives were going through, made me realize that I needed to make changes now. Seeing what the all natural soap did for my skin, made me wonder what would happen if I applied that same principle on the inside.
4. I wanted my kids to be healthy, and to learn to be healthy at an early age.

After three months, I was about 20 pounds lighter. My face was clearer. My headaches were nearly gone. I was off the daily sinus pill and ibuprofen regimen. I felt better than I had ever felt. Why would I give that up and go back to the way I had been living? That is when the journey really began.

After one year, I am now 50 pounds lighter and I am once again finding myself in need of smaller pants. I did let up some after the first three months. I had the 80/20 philosophy. I figured as long as I mostly adhered to the plan, if I was out with others I could splurge. Over time, the splurging is becoming less and less. Once you start eating REAL food, homemade goodness, the rest of the junk out there seems gross. Every day, I am learning more and more. I have accumulated a lot of great recipes. I no longer enjoy eating out. I no longer enjoy convenience foods. For example, I made a pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving. It was dairy free and contained no processed sugar. The crust was homemade. It was delicious. I enjoyed it with some coconut milk ice cream and it was fabulous. I didn't have to feel guilty about it either. There was nothing bad in it. It was even made with a real pumpkin that I had pureed myself. For Christmas, someone else provided a store bought pie. The ingredient list was 1/2 a mile long, loaded with bad stuff. I tasted it. That's it, just tasted it. I'm sure a year ago, it would've tasted great to me. It was not good at all.

One year later, body and lifestyle makeover is here to stay. Do I have adversaries? Yes, I do. You would think that the dramatic changes would be enough to convince anyone that, "Hey, maybe she's got something there. Maybe I should watch and learn." Many have said that to me. Unfortunately, it's always those closest that are the hardest to convince. I have been accused of depriving my children. I am depriving my children by feeding them good food and trying to keep them healthy? Yes, that's a logical argument. I do allow my children to have the same treats others are having when we are out. I do occasionally still treat them to pizza. They are growing and are healthy. They have healthy teeth, for the most part, except for the one my 8yo decided to knock out a couple weeks ago at the park. No, I don't think my children are deprived in any sense of the word. Yet, I still find the need to defend myself against my attackers. Did I mention the attackers are the same as mentioned in point number 3 above? Enough on that already.

What's next? The journey is not complete. I am still learning every day. I don't think the journey will ever be complete. It is the same with my spiritual journey. Every day, I am trying to be the best that God wants me to be. Every day, that means something different. This physical journey is very much connected to that. I could not have done any of this without God. He is guiding my journey all the way.

That leads me to where He wants me to go next. This next year is going to be a totally different kind of makeover. I have been under serious conviction lately that I need to change the way I look at money. At age 16, I started working at a bank. I excelled in my high school accounting classes, and majored in business in college. I know how to balance my checkbook and work from a very limited budget. It's not about the math. It's about the attitude. I am going to work this year at taking frugal to a whole new level. I need to be a better steward with that which God has blessed my family. Get ready to join me on my 2011 Money Makeover.

My Crazy Breakfast

If you don't yet know, I love smoothies for breakfast. I can pack them with exactly the nutrition that each individual needs. I used to always look for recipes, but gave that up a long time ago. Now, I just kind of make them up as I go along. I have learned what flavors go well together, what don't, and what flavors can cover up some of the nutrition taste. The end results, tasty as they are, are not always pretty. For example, this morning my smoothie came out to kind of a blah looking grey color.

Here are the smoothie making basics. Start with one cup of liquid of your choosing. I've used all kinds of juice, almond milk, rice milk, or coconut milk. Then just add in whatever else you would like for your nutritional needs. I usually use 1/2 a frozen banana and about a handful of some other frozen fruit for good smoothie texture. I prefer to use frozen fruit over ice cubes, because it doesn't get watered down and maintains its texture longer. It sometimes takes me an hour or more to actually finish drinking my smoothie because of distractions.

This morning, my smoothie was a bit more creative than usual, mostly in the 1 cup of liquid. I had a bowl of grapes in the fridge that just did not look all that great, and nobody was eating them. I thought, rather than waste them, I would juice them. I did manage to get about a cup of liquid, but then the kids of course wanted to try some grape juice. That took me back down to about 1/2 a cup. That's when I had to get creative. I had a couple apples to juice, but they weren't very juicy. I still didn't have enough juice. I ended up having to add one kiwi, a plum, and a starfruit. Did I mention that was just the juice? I poured that into the blender. Then I added a Tbsp of coconut oil, 3 Tbsp hemp seed, about 3 spoonfuls of organic yogurt, a handful of fresh spinach, and a whole frozen banana. Upon seeing the resulting color, I decided to add a few frozen strawberries to try to make it look better, but it didn't help. It really did not look good at all, but it tasted great and was packed with nutritional goodness.

The Biggest Struggle

Someone asked me today what the hardest part of my journey has been. I didn't really have a good answer at the time. However, after pondering the question for a while, I've had some thoughts. I have been an ice cream addict for as long as I could remember. If I desired a comfort food, it was ice cream. I was a very emotional eater. When I would eat emotionally, I would always choose ice cream. In addition to that, we ate cheese with pretty much every meal that wasn't breakfast. For breakfast, we would generally have cereal, with milk. Our diet revolved around dairy products. That doesn't include all the prepackaged foods that contain dairy. Products that you would not think about having milk in them, actually do.

Why is this important? Dairy products are the leading culprit in many health issues that you would not even think about. Regular retail dairy products also contain growth hormones, and may or may not contain antibiotics. You may think it would be good to have antibiotics. You'd think that would mean that no one should ever get sick. Antibiotics should kill any infection that you come across. Really, it just kills the immune system. Organics are better, but still can cause issues.

Let me stress, that I have not cut out dairy 100% yet. I still do indulge in a pizza now and again, or the occasional ice cream cone. I do not eat near the amount I did, however. I do eat a serving of organic or farm fresh yogurt about 4-5 days a week. I have gone from having 75% of my diet being dairy, to less than 1%.

How did I break the addiction? First, I was challenged to try it for a month. I agreed to that. I can do anything for a month, right? That was the beginning of the end for me. After that month, I had some pizza. I got a headache. For about the last 12 years, I have suffered from nonstop sinus headaches. I was living on allergy meds and ibuprofen. I stopped dairy, stopped the allergy meds, and stopped the ibuprofen. I didn't need them anymore. Once I realized how poorly I felt after eating dairy, I didn't crave it anymore. My biggest struggle became easy. I have learned to really trust God for the emotional stuff, instead of my food. I eat for nutrition now. I know that the better I eat, the better I feel. The better I feel, the less stress and emotions get to me.

I also think it is worthy to talk about another huge health issue I've dealt with from childhood. Every single year of my life I have dealt with serious coughing issues. As an infant/toddler, these issues put me in the hospital more than once. Twice a year, during cold and flu season, I would catch a cold. Unlike most people who blow their nose for a week or so and get over it, I would continue coughing for weeks. It would progress into things like croup or bronchitis. Cough medicine would only make it worse. Cough drops did not help. It made it difficult to sleep, difficult to work, it was horrifying in middle school. I have been journeying over 11 months now. I should've had 2 episodes in that time. I've had none. I thought I was getting a cold at one point, but got over it within 24 hours.

I think the thing that was most important in overcoming the biggest struggle is that I was ready. I had to decide to make the change. If someone had tried to tell me all this stuff 18 months ago, I wouldn't have listened. I started the journey to lose weight. I started for 3 months. That's it. Except, that after the three months was up, I didn't want to stop. I didn't want to go back to feeling like garbage. I didn't want to gain those 20 pounds back. I didn't want to put on my fat pants again. Every month after that got easier and easier. I've gotten used to eating good tasting, home cooked food. I love the challenge of trying to take the junk that I used to eat and turn it into something healthy. I love blowing people's minds when I show up somewhere bearing baked goods without processed sugar or hydrogenated oils. It blows my mind that people are now looking at me to find out how I've done it. My question to you is: HOW BAD DO YOU WANT IT?

Stock Your Pantry

Everyone has a different idea of what's healthy and what's not. Also, others may have different nutritional needs than I do. If you have gluten issues, diabetes, or some other allergy your pantry will likely look very different from mine.

When I first started my health journey, I was torn between the world of being healthy and the world of couponing. I am all about saving money. We are an one-income, homeschooling family. I need to save money where ever I can. If I could get $100 worth of groceries for $25 by using coupons I was thrilled. The problem is, most of the foods I was getting with the coupons were not on my list of edibles today. I had to figure out another way to save money. I can occasionally find coupons for some organic veggies, or a $5 off $50 coupon, but for the most part I avoid the grocery store as much as possible. I have a small list of things that I pick up at the grocery store like almond milk, organic butter, peanut butter and fruit spread (not sugary jelly), and a small amount of meat. I do not buy organic meat. I can't. It's just too expensive. I do the best I can with what I have. The rest of my food is bought in bulk from various co-ops and/or online sources.

I get most of my veggies from local co-ops or farmers markets. I also found some great containers and bags that are designed to extend the life of your veggies. Because the co-ops are only once every other week, I need my veggies to last. It has really cut down on the amount of waste.

I buy my grains in big 5-gallon buckets. I grind the whole wheat berries into flour and make all our own bread. I have three different kinds of wheat in my pantry. I have hard red wheat, which makes a bread that tastes like whole wheat bread. It gives it a really good flavor. I have hard white wheat (not the same as white flour). Hard white makes great bread also, but it tastes more like white bread - only more nutritious. The hard white is also great for making things like dinner rolls, hamburger buns, pizza crust, tortillas and more. I also have soft white wheat. Soft white has a lower gluten content than the hard and is better for making things like cakes and cookies.

Yes, I still make cakes and cookies, not to mention things like homemade cinnamon raisin bread. That brings me to the next section of my pantry: sweeteners. I do not buy white processed sugar, anything with corn syrup, or any artificial sweeteners. This is the section that you will want to ignore if you are diabetic. My first choice for sweetening is honey. That is what I use for all my bread, and many baked goods. Honey can get a little pricey though. Thankfully, because of its strong sweetness, you do substitute less honey than the amount of sugar called for in a recipe. Honey works well to replace white sugar in most recipes, but not brown sugar. For that, I use Sucanat, which is a brand name for evaporated cane juice. It is a less processed sugar. I order it in a one gallon bucket. That one bucket lasts me about 6 months. Although it is less processed, it is still sugar and still should be only used in moderation.

What else do I have in one-gallon buckets in my pantry? Rolled oats can be used for many things. We actually do not eat oatmeal for breakfast. I don't like the texture of oatmeal. I do make a baked oatmeal that involves peanut butter and raisins. Check the history. I'm pretty sure I posted about it. It can also be put in the food processor to be made into flour. I have used it to make blueberry muffins that way. I also keep a bucket of organic popcorn. I know popcorn has some issues, but I can't give up all my vices. I figure making organic popcorn on the stove is way better than the microwave variety, so there you go. I keep a bucket, or two, of organic virgin coconut oil. That is the oil I use the majority of the time. There is also a bucket of brown rice. That can be used to stretch so many foods. We make fried rice, beans and rice, rice soup, you get the idea. There is also a bucket of flax seed, a bucket of gluten, and a bucket of raw sunflower seeds. I want to order buckets of beans, but those are a little more expensive so I've just been getting the small bags from the grocery store. Of course two cups of dried beans, once rehydrated, can feed about 20 people.

I also keep my freezer well stocked with frozen fruits and veggies, a small amount of meat, veggie purees, homemade chicken and veggie broths, and sometimes baked goods.

I plan my meals around the fresh veggies that I get. I use the staples from my pantry to make them stretch and feed everyone. Things work much more smoothly when I plan ahead and prepare things ahead of time. I know this, but I still have problems always doing it. When I don't plan ahead, I get into trouble and we don't end up eating as healthfully as we should.

One more tip for money saving, I make many of my own cleaning products. I make laundry soap. I use white vinegar as a fabric softener, window cleaner, and much more. I have even made an attempt at making shampoo. I'm still working the kinks out of that though.

Victories and Frustrations

It has been 11 months now on my health journey. I am down nearly 50 pounds, which is great, but it is not why I continue. I have learned much over the last 11 months about foods that can help, and foods that can hurt. I continue, because I feel better than I have ever felt in my life. I continue, because I see positive results in my family. I continue, because at least 3 members of our extended family have diabetes or are pre-diabetic. I continue, because of health issues that I thought the doctors should be able to "fix".

Good health is not the result of doctors "fixing" problems. Good health, comes from a lifetime of taking care of yourself, listening to your body, and giving your body good fuel. Good health is not convenient, and does not come out of a box or a bottle of pills. I have learned that you really have to be committed to good health. Don't get discouraged, though.

First, let me tell you that I do not count calories. I do not follow some fad diet program that has strict rules about carbs. Those programs may help you lose weight in the short run, but they are not about gaining health. Don't get me wrong, I am thrilled to have lost weight, but I am more thrilled about feeling great. Did I mention that I ran (well jogged really) yesterday for 20 minutes straight? I have never been able to run in my life. I know now that, as a child, I suffered from exercise induced asthma. I couldn't run, because I couldn't breathe. No one really understood what was wrong at the time, and no one could help me. Now that I understand how to train, how to breathe, and proper techniques, I am running for the first time in my life. Oh, and I'm enjoying it.

What do I do, then, you ask. I look at ingredients. There are a few ingredients that I avoid at all costs. The first one is soy. Do not take my word for it, but research soy for yourself. You will soon discover why I avoid that one. You might even find some information in my past blog posts. That is harder than it sounds, too. Go to the grocery store one day and pick up any package of food. I dare you to find one that doesn't have soy in it.

The second thing I avoid as much as possible is dairy. I do eat organic (or raw milk) yogurt. When I say I, I really mean that my goal is for my whole family to be dairy free. This is where the frustrations come in. Frustration #1 is due to the fact that my family LOVES dairy: pizza, ice cream, cereal with milk, etc. If it's made from milk, they love to eat it. Frustration #2 relates to dealing with others. It is easy to explain to others why I don't do soy, but most still aren't willing to try it for themselves. Dairy, on the other hand, has such a good marketing campaign that it is very difficult to get people to buy not having it if you are not allergic or lactose intolerant. What I tell people is to try it for a month. Then, go out and have pizza and ice cream and see what happens. Most people, however, are not willing to commit to that for even a month. Really, you would be shocked what the results would be. It does affect everyone differently, though. The benefits in our family have been different for everyone. I have stopped getting sinus headaches (a little salsa helps with that too). My husband has stopped snoring. I can tell when he slips up and eats something with dairy, because then I can't sleep due to the snoring. My son has stopped being constipated.

The most difficult part is breaking old habits. As I write this, my children are sitting here begging to go to a fast food restaurant. I think it is most difficult for my 12yo. I spent 11 1/2 years of his life, living conveniently. The first six years, I was working full time. We ate a lot of boxed microwave meals, fast food, and frozen pizza. I quit working full time, but old habits are hard to break. We continued on the same pattern for a long time. When he was 3, he started suffering from chronic ear infections. My chiropractor tried to tell me to take him off dairy. I refused. That would be too difficult. Plus, that couldn't be the answer. The doctors would fix him. I can't dwell on that and live in regret. The only thing I can do is move forward, and know that I am doing the right thing now. As you would expect, the husband is also a difficult one to convince. After 11 months, I think he is finally starting to see the light. I think he also understands a little more now the danger of diabetes. He knows that it's the right thing, just misses some of the old foods. He doesn't, however, miss the acid reflux.

The bottom line is that, after 11 months, I am more determined than ever to raise my family to be healthy, naturally. This is not intended to be medical advice. I am simply sharing my journey and what I've learned on it so far.

Instant Oatmeal Alternative

My kids love eating oatmeal for breakfast. The only problem is, they will only eat the instant kind. I can't really blame them. That is what I grew up on, so that is what I always bought. I just cannot get past the texture of "real" oatmeal, even though I know it is so much healthier. Then, you have to love that the instant ones now have "low sugar" varieties - NOT. Read the ingredients. They contain the sugar substitute sucralose (brand name Splenda). There is much debate within the scientific community as to whether or not sucralose is safe or not. I'd rather not take my chances after my personal experience with phenylalanine (Aspartame/Nutrasweet).

Thanks to Five J's blog post I read the other day, I now have an alternative: Baked Oatmeal. Of course, I did change some of the ingredients to make it fit my requirements. It was a winner. Even Mikey liked it. Here's what I changed. Instead of brown sugar I used Sucanat (evaporated cane juice). Sucanat is still sugar, but it is a more natural, less processed form of sugar. It is not lower in calories or some magic formula, just more natural. For the milk, I used vanilla almond milk. As usual, I used coconut oil instead of butter. As good as peanut butter and chocolate are together, I could not do the chocolate chips. Organic chocolate is terribly expensive and quite frankly does not taste very good. I substituted raisins for the chocolate chips.

What's great about this recipe is that not only is it oatmeal that my kids love, but because it also has eggs they are getting the protein they need in the morning. Don't forget that you don't have to always follow recipes exactly. Once you learn what ingredients you can use in place of others, you can make pretty much any recipe healthier or more suited to specific dietary needs.

Happy, Healthy Update

This morning I stepped on the scale to discover that I have passed the thirty pound mark. I am in shock. When I started this journey 4 months ago, I really didn't think I would be able to do it. I have pretty much carried these extra pounds with me for the past 12 years. I gained about 30 lbs my first pregnancy, gave birth to an almost 10 pound baby, and still weighed 30 lbs extra. I am very good at math, but that just doesn't quite add up for me. I have continued to exercise off and on through the last 12 years, sometimes more than others. I lost about 15 pounds just before I got pregnant the second time. I was pretty careful, and only gained about 20 pounds during that. When that 9+ pound baby was born, I weighed less than when I got pregnant that time. Again, not getting the math there. When little one was around three, I got really serious about exercise for about a year. I was really in shape, and felt good but still didn't really lose any weight. Then, we moved. I no longer had access to a great gym to spend an hour or two every day at. Over the next 3 years, I slowly gained back about 20 lbs. Enough was enough.

Through the help of Lynette Pate at Breath of Green and her book "Lose Weight the Pate Way", I have now dropped 32 lbs. The thing is, I have not really added a ton of exercise. I try to walk as much as possible, and I am doing a lot more physical yard work. If I were to add in more exercise, I can't imagine what would happen. Even more exciting was going to buy new shorts today. I have not worn this size since before children. I finally have the strength to resist food temptation. In fact, the thought of eating some things almost grosses me out.

Pork is not on my recommended eating list. That is not a huge problem for me. I have never been a big fan of bacon. However, I had a rack of ribs in my freezer that I had gotten a while back buy 2 get 1 free, how do you resist that? Since moderation is really the key to every good eating plan, I thought it would be ok to cook them up to get them out of the freezer. I lathered them up with BBQ sauce and threw them on the grill. I took one bite and could not eat them. They were literally disgusting to me. I'm sure my hubby will be thrilled when he gets home to discover a nearly full rack of ribs for his dining pleasure. The garlic and onion potatoes cooked in coconut oil were absolutely fabulous though. I could've eaten them all, but was good and saved some for my sweetie. I may have to make some popcorn to help resist eating the rest of them before he gets home.

I have four pounds to go to get to my pre-child weight, but that is not my final goal. I would like to go about another 10 lbs below that. If my ice cream/sugar addicted self can make this change, so can you. It really is not as hard as you think. All you have to do is decide you are ready. It also helps to have great, supportive friends.

Homemade "Granola" Bars

OK, it's not really granola, but that's the easiest way I can think to describe these. I don't know if you know this, but boys love to eat. Even more than that, they love to snack. Well, you probably know that. The problem is finding stuff to keep them satisfied, but still be healthy. I have one that loves to eat fruits and veggies, but the other one doesn't. He would prefer things like cookies and candy. Granola bars are a simple snack, but most of them that are in the store are loaded with high fructose corn syrup or other not so good for you ingredients. It is easy to find recipes online, but a lot of those don't have the best ingredients either. After some research, here is my adaptation.

Begin by "greasing" a 9x13 pan. I would probably use coconut oil, but because I was almost out, I used butter.

In a small saucepan over medium heat combine:

• 1/2 c. honey
• 1/2 c. peanut butter (I made my own)
• 2 Tbsp. Pure Maple Syrup
• 1 Tbsp. coconut oil (again since I was almost out of coconut oil, I used grapeseed oil)
• 1/4 c. Sucanat
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Heat until mixture just begins to bubble. Remove from heat and add 1 tsp vanilla.

In a large bowl combine:

• 2 cups oats
• 2 cups crisp brown rice cereal
• 1/4 milled flax seed
• 1/2 cup roasted peanuts
• 1/2 raisins
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries

Pour peanut butter mixture over oatmeal mixture and stir. Press into baking dish, cover with parchment paper and press firmly into dish. Cool in fridge.

Warning, it did not get very sticky, and does fall apart a bit. They taste great, though. I will be doing some experimenting with ingredients like sunflower seeds, hemp seed, almonds, and other dried fruits. I will post the ones that work. If you have any suggestions for other ingredients, I will try that too.

Convenience at What Cost?

We live in a very convenient society. We have all sorts of electronic gadgets, fast foods, convenience foods, convenience stores, and more just to make life more convenient. Is that really how we are supposed to live our lives? Before you say, whoa and stop reading, let me clarify. I am the queen of convenience, well I used to be. I am slowly learning that forgoing the convenience can save money in a lot of ways. Of course, what we save in money is going to cost us in time, but is that really such a bad thing? Are we really as busy as we think we are? Sometimes all we need is a little better planning. Here's a couple of things that I have changed recently to become less convenient.

Cutting the grass is a task that needs to happen quite often in the summer. Up north the grass cutting season is relatively short. Down here, we have a much longer grass cutting season, and much different grass to cut. The most convenient method would be to hire someone to cut the grass. Of course, most of us don't do that. We have a lawn mower and do it ourselves. Have you ever thought about how much your lawn mower really costs you? I'm going to use the gas mower example. If you buy a cheap model, you may be able to get it for around $200 (unless you can get one used). Our situation is a bit different, because we rent and the lawn mower came with the house. With ever rising gas prices, how much does it cost in gas over that grass cutting season? Half the summer, the grass would get overrun, because we had to wait to buy gas for the mower. Then, there's the problem that I can never get the mower started. My dad replaced all kinds of parts and did repairs to make the thing run. Finally, last fall the pull cord just stopped pulling. I'm sure my dad could fix it again, but in the meantime my grass continues to grow. The mower gets fixed again and then dies again. I was sick of it. When my neighbor came over and asked if he could mow our weeds, that was the last straw. I had to do something. I decided on a classic reel push mower, see it here. It starts every time, because all I have to do is push it. I don't have to buy gas (or pay electricity to run it), and it was very inexpensive at just over $100. Don't get me wrong, there are limitations. It is a pretty good workout to cut the grass that way, which really isn't a bad thing when you think about it. The other thing is, it does not cut the really long weeds that make up a good portion of our yard. I guess that really won't be a problem now that we can keep up with it regularly, but I did have to pull a lot of weeds by hand today. When you think about it, that's probably better also. They are getting out by the root and not spreading seeds all over the yard by being cut down. The biggest challenge of pulling the weeds was that most of them were full of flowers. Did I mention I am deathly afraid of bees? Once I got rid of the worst of the weeds, the mowing was actually quite easy. It does not do well if sticks get in the way either. So, I still have more work to get the yard cleaned up, but I figure if I do a little at a time that soon it will just be easy maintenance.

Sliced bread is another great convenience. At what cost? It's not terribly expensive to buy a loaf of bread. I think the cost here really isn't monetary as much as it is related to our health. The purpose of eating is to nourish our bodies. Does sliced bread do that? Of course, it's enriched with all those vitamins and preservatives. In order to mass produce bread and extend it's shelf life, the processed flour they use really has little or no nutritional value. Yes, I'm even talking about the "healthy" whole grain breads. I decided that if we were going to eat bread, we would have to make it ourselves. Again, it does cost us with a little more time. This is time that is spent away from the TV and computer, working together. I'm willing to make that sacrifice. I bought a grain mill and ordered a big bucket of wheat berries. The mill is not difficult to use. I pour the wheat in, and turn the machine on. When it's done grinding, I turn it off. It takes about a minute or two at the most. I mix the dough in my electric mixer, let it rise, and bake it. It really is not difficult nor that time consuming. If I cannot be home for the whole time to let it rise and bake, I could make a loaf in the bread maker. I find it easier to not use the bread maker, because then I can make more loaves at a time. The final cost is about the same as buying the cheap store brand bread at the store. Oh, and nothing beats a warm slice of homemade bread fresh from the oven. Not only that, but there are so many different types of grains that I am looking forward to experimenting with.

Those are just a couple of the conveniences I have decided to give up to both save money and become more healthy. What conveniences have you given up? I would love to hear suggestions of other ways to make our lives healthier.

Egg Veggie Salad Wrap

My freezer and pantry stock piles are seriously dwindled. I am still not used to making everything from scratch. I really need to work on getting a schedule made up so that I can plan my shopping accordingly. Coming up with last minute dinner ideas is really getting difficult. When you make things from scratch, you cannot do it at the last minute. I did come up with a pretty good option though. I did use store bought tortillas tonight, though. I can't wait to get my grain and a tortilla press. Really, tortillas should have like two ingredients. There is no need for them to have all that other junk that they put in the store bought ones.

Mix the following ingredients together in a bowl:

• 6 hard-boiled eggs chopped (farm fresh of course)
• 1/2 c. chopped cucumber
• 1/2 c. chopped zucchini
• 1/4 c. shredded carrot
• 2 Tbsp. chopped red onion

Stir together the following, then pour over the egg mixture and combine:

• 1/4 c. organic greek yogurt (plain)
• 2 Tbsp. dijon mustard
• 1 Tbsp. almond milk
• 1/4 tsp basil
• 1/4 tsp paprika

Layer one whole wheat tortilla, romaine lettuce leaf, chopped plum tomato, egg mixture. Roll up and enjoy. It should make about 6.

Garbage In, Garbage Out

"Good spiritual food is for those who are strong in the Lord." Hebrews 5:14

This is from my boys' lesson at church today. God is amazing how he works. When He wants to teach you a lesson, He makes sure you hear it from several different sources. You know, like the smack upside the head. The food we put into our spirit is what comes out of it. If we spend our day watching garbage on TV, when the stress comes we are going to react to it much differently depending on what we've been watching. We are going to react differently, depending on who we spend our day hanging out with. Do you spend your day hanging out with negative people who complain all the time. That is what you will become. A couple weeks ago, we were at our Pastor's home. He used a teachable moment with the 11 yo boys. One was sitting down, the other standing. Do you think it was easier for the one sitting to pull the other down, or the one standing to pull the other up? I'm not sure if the kids got the lesson, but I did. It is what we do with our free time, and who we hang out with that affects how we react under pressure.

This also applies to the food we eat. Now, I'm getting to the point of my smack upside the head. I have been on this health journey for two whole months now. I have not had a headache in over a month. The thing that really inspired me was a friend telling me how sometimes our dealings with food can be sinful. Clearly, the Bible talks about gluttony. I just never thought about it like that before. I was addicted to food and especially sweets. Every time I would get in a bad mood, I would want a bowl of ice cream. If I had a headache, I would reach for a Diet Dr. Pepper (even though that's probably what was causing my headaches in the first place). My relationship with food was not at all healthy. I am not saying that my eating habits are perfect now, but they are greatly improved over what they were. I do not have the emotional relationship with food that I once did. Food is for nourishment. However, I still like to enjoy what I'm eating and have fun with cooking and recipes. Food is also a huge part of our culture. Things like parties, celebration dinners, church breakfasts all usually involve food. Sometimes these things like to stack up on each other. That was what happened this weekend. I cannot obsess about every little thing and eat perfectly all the time, I know that. I still try to make wise choices for the most part. Sometimes, however, temptation can sneak up on you. Friday, we had a big homeschool St. Patrick's day party. I had one kosher beef hot dog with no bun, a small piece of chicken, some carrots, celery, grapes, and one small brownie. That is not even close to what I would've eaten two months ago. It did contain ingredients that I should not eat. I was also outside all day and probably did not get quite enough water. Because of all the chaos of the day, I could not come up with anything to make for dinner. We went out to Chick-fil-a. I had two chicken fingers, some fries and a bottle of water. By that time, I could already feel the headache starting. It did not get any better yesterday. Little one had a baseball game. I made some popcorn before the game to help avoid the temptation of the concession stand. Instead of having fries and a Dr. Pepper, I had popcorn and a cup of detox tea. Then, my parents wanted to go out to Wendy's. I had chicken, a side salad, and a bottle of water. We then spent the afternoon outside enjoying the beautiful day. Again, not quite enough water and I could feel my headache getting worse. I did take ibuprofen both Friday night and Saturday night before bed. To finish off the day, we had pizza for dinner. I can't believe I agreed to that. I woke up this morning to a headache like I haven't had in some time. I learned my lesson. NO MORE JUNK FOOD!!!!! This morning when we went to church and they brought out the waffle iron, I was not even tempted by the smell. In fact, I was almost repulsed by it. I had eaten a good breakfast at home, and now I am sitting here enjoying my warm cup of Yerba Mate tea and listening to the rain. The dull pain of my headache is still there, but I am counting on it being completely gone by tomorrow morning to enjoy our field trip. I am also planning ahead to bring my own food. No more garbage for me.

More On Getting Healthy

In all my writing last night about getting healthy, I forgot to talk about my dh. Ever since I've known him, he has struggled with acid reflux. At age 28, he had his gall bladder removed. After that, the reflux got even worse. He was taking a prescription for a while, but then switched to OTC meds. He was taking them nearly every day. Since we've made the switch, he is completely off any kind of acid meds, PTL.

Part of the inspiration to make changes came from my 7yo. He was suffering from severe constipation. We had already been changing his diet significantly, because I knew I couldn't keep him on the prescription from the doctor forever. We had also found a few foods that helped him just as well as the Rx. One of them was a cookie recipe from a nutrition book I reviewed a while back. See that review here.

My whole life, breakfast has been about cereal and milk. There were the weekend days that my dad would cook eggs and bacon, or when I was old enough, I would get up first and make pancakes. Yes, I have always been a morning person. It's just how I'm wired, and I can't help it. What do you do for breakfast if you do not do cereal and milk. That has been a tough thing to get used to. All the options take more work than cereal. The kids really like oatmeal, and I have not totally transitioned them from the instant variety. I do try to sneak in some flax seed and/or coconut oil. My oldest also enjoys scrambled eggs. We love our farm fresh eggs that we get from our friend's chickens. Much cheaper than buying them from the store. Eggs are cheap, but if you want the good farm fresh ones you are going to pay. Finding a local chicken farmer is a much more affordable option. Of course, the best option would be to have your own chickens, but that doesn't really work for us at the present time.

My other favorite breakfast option is smoothies. They are very easily tailored for each person's tastes and health needs. Here's what I had this morning:
I made fresh juice in the juicer. I used one pineapple, three plums and a few grapes.
For a smoothie I use about 1 c. of juice.
I add about a handful of fresh spinach.
1/2 frozen banana (to freeze banana's I peel them, break them in half, and put in a freezer baggie)
1/2 container of greek yogurt (I used blueberry this morning)
1 Tbsp coconut oil
about a handful of frozen blueberries (we picked these last year from my friend's blueberry farm, we are almost out and I can't wait until we can go pick some more).

Really, you can put almost anything in a smoothie. It works best to use frozen fruits, because it give it a much better consistency. If you don't have frozen fruit you can throw in a few ice cubes to help thicken it and make it colder.

Colcannon

OK, two posts in one day. Sorry, I don't want to overwhelm you, but the other post was just getting too long and I really wanted to post this recipe. For a food obsessed family this going healthy thing has been a bit of a challenge. We use food for everything. When we study geography, we like to have food from the country we are studying. We bake cookies to study math. We ate soup and bread for 3 days straight to get an idea of what life was like in the dark ages. So of course, when St. Patrick's day comes along we have to have food to go along with it. Well, last year the corn beef and cabbage did not go over very well. I don't even think the dh liked it, and he likes everything. However, cabbage is in season right now so I had some fresh cabbage from the organic co-op. What to do? What to do? My fb news feed popped up with the perfect solution, healthy Irish recipes. However, their definition of healthy did not quite fit in our currently dairy free house. So here is the modified recipe for Colcannon (which is a fancy Irish word for mashed potatoes and cabbage).

1 lb small red potatoes scrubbed and cut in half (It was so handy to have our new food scale that I had to buy for Chemistry class)
1 Tbsp coconut oil
1/2 onion, thinly sliced (we always use the PC food chopper for this job to get them really small and unnoticeable)
6 cups cabbage, thinly sliced (about 1/2 head)
1 c. almond milk
1 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp pepper

1. Cook the potatoes like you would to make mashed potatoes, but do not mash yet.
2. Meanwhile, heat coconut oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook until translucent (about 2 min), add cabbage and continue cooking, stirring occasionally until the cabbage begins to brown (about 5 min).
3. Reduce heat to low. Stir in almond milk, salt and pepper. Cover and cook until cabbage is tender (about 8 min). Add the cabbage mixture to the potatoes and mash.

Get Healthy Mission

I have been so busy posting curriculum reviews that I have really been neglecting to post anything else. Shame on me for that, because I have started an incredible journey to take control of my health and my families. We are getting back to basics and trying to do things more the way God intended rather than eating and using chemicals. It all started back around October when I got soap in the mail to review. You can read my review here of Virginia Soaps and Scents to learn more about that journey. I never would have imagined that a bar of soap could change my whole lifestyle, but it really has.

After I saw the difference that using natural products for my skin, hair and clothes could make, I wanted to see what would happen if I changed the way I eat. Well, I came across the perfect opportunity. Lynette Pate with Breath of Green was co-sponsoring a green get healthy challenge. Through her book "Lose Weight the Pate Way" I have learned so much and totally revolutionized my lifestyle. I started her challenge in the middle of January. Since then, I have lost nearly 20 lbs, dramatically cleared up my skin, and basically eliminated my headaches.

Surprisingly, my biggest challenge has not been my sweet tooth or lack of self-control. That is partly due to the fact that I can still eat sweets, just not ones with processed sugar or high fructose corn syrup. You would be amazed at how easy it is to resist temptation once you eliminate those highly addictive things from your diet. There are so many great alternatives like honey, agave nectar, stevia, and more. I cannot lie, it does take more work and more planning. There are no quick, easy box meals and no drive through fast food. Even buying things like sliced bread and tortillas is not really an option. But eating healthy is too expensive, you say. Well, my goal is to make it as affordable as possible. There are some specialty items that I must buy, and I have been searching for the best prices. My goal here, is to help find the ways to make it affordable. Mind you, we are a single income homeschooling family so when I say affordable, I mean it. I have gone to some sites where they talk about meal planning and affordable food, and I do not have half that much to work with. That is part of the reason I have not been able to make the switch to 100% organic, but try to get as close as possible.

My first step to making organic affordable was to finally join the organic co-op. Twice a month, the co-op sends out a list of fruits and veggies available to order. They also have a few extras like salad dressing and honey. On co-op morning, I drag my kids out the door around 7:30 am so that we can help pack and check orders to earn a 10% discount. Yes, again it takes a little extra work but is very worth it. Thanks to my friend C, who told me about the Hefty Fresh Extend bags, my produces lasts much longer. If there are items that I need that I can't get from the co-op then I will try the local produce market, or at last resort the grocery store. I then plan my meals around the produce I was able to get. Of course the staples are lettuce (various kinds) for salads, and the ingredients to make salsa. Most salad dressings are not an option, and I do not much care for the oil and vinegar varieties. Instead, I use salsa to dress my salads. There are also many other items you can use it to top as well. Salsa is loaded with tons of nutritional goodness, if it's made properly.

The other leap we made was to order a grain mill to freshly grind our own grain and make our own bread. That is even an option if you are wheat and gluten free. I was disappointed to find out that it did not, however, grind flax seed. It was suggested that I get an inexpensive coffee grinder for that job. I will let you know how that works when my flax seed order comes in. If you live close to a store that sells bulk grains that is the way to go. If you don't, like me, I found another local co-op for that purpose. The grain is ordered from Bread Beckers, and by ordering through the co-op we save a tremendous amount on shipping costs. I ordered about 65 lbs of product that would have cost over $30 in shipping, but through the co-op it only cost me $8. Plus, we got an extra discount that basically covered most of the shipping.

I should mention how we helped pay for the grain mill through Swagbucks. Swagbucks is a search and win site powered by Google. You set it as your home page and use it to search the same way you would use Google. While searching you earn "bucks" which can be translated into prizes. My favorite is the Amazon.com gift cards. I have earned close to $100 in Amazon gift cards so far. I used some for Christmas, I used some to help offset the cost of the grain mill, and now I am saving up to order a tortilla press and a butterfly kit for my kids. Click here to sign up and start earning your own Swagbucks.

Please, join me on this journey. I hope you will be blessed with money saving tips, healthy recipes, and other useful links.