QC&H: Veggie Chips

Today, I saw on pinterest to make chips out of veggies like carrots and cucumbers. Well, I had produce that was quickly going bad. I had to do something with them. I love salty snacks such as chips and other snacks like that. So What the hay. Why not give it a try.

1. I already had cucumbers cut up in a dish from earlier this week. I laid them out on a cookie sheet and brushed on a little bit of vegetable oil on both sides. I then put them in the oven for 10 minutes at 350. Then 5 minutes on broil. 
2. I then took them out of the oven and flipped them over. I sprinkled garlic salt over them and put them back into the oven for 15 minutes on 350 degrees. 
3. When I pulled them out of the oven I flipped them over and let them cool. I think they taste really good. I hope they dry out more and they become more crunchy. 

I followed the same steps with the carrots. Instead of using the brush with the carrots, I threw them in a bowl with oil and garlic salt. Then put them on a cookie sheet and bake the same as the cucumbers. 

Don't they look good! (:

This is a great alternative to snacking on chips and other fatty foods. I love these pinterest meals and snacks. They make eating healthy easier and some of them are kind of fun to see how they will turn out. I like eating some of them and most of them turn out pretty good.

And! for an even better plus, Sean likes the carrots a lot. "if we kept this stuff around, I would be set." Welp, Sean said it best.


Also!

A bag of carrots cost.. 1.66 at walmart.
A Cucumber costs ... .78!

So you can't go wrong because it is so much cheaper than a bag of chips!

Make Your Laundry Soap and Use It Too.

      I keep looking for recipes to use for laundry soap, but the idea of grating an entire bar of soap just doesn't appease to me. (Awesome job mom for making laundry soap for the whole family for Christmas, I couldn't do it.)
        So I finally found a recipe after spending much time on pinterest looking for something that I didn't need a ginormous pot for, and I didn't need a grater and 3 hours of my life. 

Now, This is my Laundry Soap!!

3 Tablespoons Borax 
3 Tablespoons Washing Soda
2 Tablespoons Dawn Dish soap

Put these ingredients in a one gallon jug. 

Pour 4 cups boiling water into the jug. 

Swirl until ingredients are dissolved in the liquid.  Let liquid cool. 

Then fill almost to the top with cold water. The bubbles will overflow out of the bottle.

This is a super cheap way of making laundry soup.

A box of Borax (at Walmart): 3.38
A box of Washing Soda:       3.24
Dawn dish soap:                    .97

Total Cost:                             7.59


       We made two gallons of laundry soap and we still have almost full boxes of each. It barely takes ANY of the Borax or Washing Soda. This is such a great way to make laundry soap without having to try to grate a bar of soap. "Ain't NO ONE got time for that (:"

      We haven't used the laundry soap yet because we are finishing up what my mom gave us for Christmas, but laundry soap is SOOO expensive at the store. Every time we used to by it before, I would throw a fit in the isle because I didn't want to spend 8+ dollars on a 1 container of liquid soap. I am so glad we started making it ourselves. No more fits in the laundry soap isle (: Thank you mom for the 5 gallon bucket of homemade laundry soap for Christmas!!

When using homemade laundry soap we have a designated measuring cup for it that sits on our washer. We use about a 1/2 a cup to a cup of the homemade laundry soap (depending on the size of the load!)

I like the dawn soap because you can pick out a great scent which is the best part of making your own soap.

This is definitely a pinterest success! It looks was so easy and it smells good (at least now). I suggest making their own laundry soap who doesn't do it already! SO MUCH cheaper!



Okay, so there is my success for the week. Now I got to get the clothes washed! Blah! (:

The Best Way to Organize Your Finances!

I am pretty much in charge of the spending and recording it to make sure we are spending it on what we need to. Well, This month I recently took it over. Its been hard, but I am finally pulling it all together.

So I saw this idea on pinterest, but I never got the chance to put it all together. It is a finance folder where all of the money, budget and other important bill paying information, which helps when it comes to pay day and bill paying days. 

The first page I added in was and index. I had listed out all of the pages on it. Now, I have added Money saving tips, big purchase receipts/warrant information, and doctor's appointment information and cards. This is my way of laying out what is in here and in what order, because I like that kind of organization.

    Then I added in a calendar. I wrote in all of the bills that we need to pay and the days we get paid. Since we both work together we have the same paydays, but I also have my drill payday (which I normally just leave in my savings account.) After we pay the bills, I highlight where I wrote it so I know what we have left for the bills to be paid this month. I also try to write how much each one is so I know what is due that week. It is helpful because I can easily see it all in one spot instead of having each statement to look at.

The next sheet lays out all of our spending. I have printed out four of these sheets. One for each week of the month. That way each day when we spend money, we just record it in that days column. There is a column for the categories, goal spending, one for each day of the week, total spending, and the difference for the week.

After starting this, I decided to print one sheet off at a time and update the goal spending column so it carries over from week to week. 

     Next is our income sheet. Since Sean and I have irregular incomes, I chart each of our checks for the month, then any unexpected income from selling something, or just anything else. This is a way of showing how much we are bring in each month.

I have a category for repaying hospital bills slowly. Sean has had medical problems and now we are working to pay them off. I haven't sat down with the statements yet to figure out how much a month/ how long until they will be paid off. I will be doing this soon.

After the income is our wish list. These are the extra things that we slowly want to save up for. Things for the house and for us. Some of them have estimated prices with them and some don't. But this is a good way to lay out the things that we want or need, but can't just go out and buy it right away. With my tax return, we did buy a new vacuum and the laundry sorter. It was great to cross things off of this list. While the list will never be gone and there will always be something we want for the house. It is a good way to plan for bigger purchases. 

I have included some simple money saving tips in the folder. Simple things like selling stuff, cleaning out my closet and the things we have already started doing to save money. I put them in there as a reminder for me of why I sit down with all of the finances and budget. It is little tips to put me back in the swing of things when I get off sometimes.

    I have a folder for all of the paid bills for the month in case I need something from one of them. It is a good way to keep everything in one place. After the month is over, I will get a filing cabinet to put the months bills in until the end of the year. This way I can set everything aside, but I know what was spent. This is a great way to set up the long term budget because going month by month can be hard when different things happen in a month. This is a good way to chart a months spending. Ie. How much was the electric bill last January. so on and so forth.

Last but not least, I keep all of our online account information. This is where I keep our Charter account name and log in, bank account information and other certain things like that. This way it is all in one spot for when I need to pay bills.

So, another success from pinterest, I would say. It is great to keep everything organized. Not to mention make sure bills get paid on time. I keep this folder in a basket with a folder that holds all of our receipts, and other important tax information. I am really glad that I sat down to do this because it is a great way to lay everything out. Thank you pinterest.

This blog also has a really great spin on this folder as well. I like how she has different folders for each category of my budget.

So start your finance folder today, because this is the best thing I have ever done for our finances!!

Week 1 Results

Week 1: This was a stressful week because I knew I had drill on Saturday and I just wanted the weight gone. It is so frustrating to listen to my cadre call me fat because I'm over military weight requirement.

Workouts: I bought a $3 workout video at Walmart a while back and I had never tried it. Today was a good day to try it since I am still avoiding wearing shoes when I don't have to. (I also can't swim. dumb tattoo..)

P90X: I tried the first part of a couple of the videos to see what they are like, they sound great for when I have the time.


I did take Rocco on a walk one day for 2 miles, but with the snow, I wasn't too excited about that.
Saturday and Sunday I did have drill, which means I ran every where I went and worked out a ton.

After drill, I also decided that I need to work on my sit ups and push ups as well as losing weight. 

So I rethought my original workout plans and decided that I would be changing it since I can't swim right now.



1 day a week I will walk Rocco (my pain in a butt dog) (for at least an hour, or go run and play 
       with him at the dog park.)
2 days a week I will do workout videos that I find either online or that I already own
2 days a week I will weight lift
6 days a week I will do 3 reps of increasing sit-ups and push ups.
1 day a week I will rest.

     Yes, some days I will do more than one workout. I would like to combine cardio with weight lifting because you are said to get better results, but we'll see.

    For right now, I am going to do a workout in the morning, and then a short quick ab or leg workout when I get off work/ before bed. (On the days I don't do two of the workouts.)

Water: I took on of the water bottles I already had and marked it to monitor how much water I actually drink in an hour. It is marked for in hour increments between 7am and 10pm, and for every hour there are 8 oz. In one day I should ultimately be drinking 4 of these bottles.




























All of the writing on the water bottles ended up coming off, but that water bottle is still a great jug to carry with me.

I am now sitting at 153. 

I wish it could have been lower when I weighed in this morning, but that's fine. Some progress is better than none. I have 6 weeks until my next drill weekend, so I really want to try to get in way better shape for my next drill.

This week I have been eating string cheese and apples for snacks, but I want to get into yogurts and other simple snacks like that. Work makes it really hard to snack when I have to be on the floor all the time, but it is getting easier to be motivated.

If I had Kids...

   Okay, so I know that a bunch of my readers (the ones who I know read it for sure) have kids. Spending so much time on pinterest, I see a ton of awesome things that I would do for kids if I had them (on a totally separate note. I want a day babysitting job for 2 or 3 weekdays a week)  So I thought I would write about all the cool things that there are to do for kids that someday I hope to do.


Summer (Outdoor):
   
Sprite and Gummy Bear Pops. Freeze them. Great summer time treat. 

The Giant Ice Cube: Freeze little happy meal toys or other small toys into a colored water blog. Hand over toy tools and let them chip away at the block until they get their favorite toys out. This is a great way to keep them outside and busy when you want to be outside.

Holidays:


Birthday: 
Sign up for all of the freebie birthday clubs. (There are TONS of lists on the web.) For their birthday, plan a free day around all of the clubs you signed up for. They will love the treats (Ice cream!) and your pocket will love you for it!

Pack your kids lunch in the morning and individually wrap each item with wrapping paper. (Elementary School kids would LOVE this, well I would have at that age)

Any:
Decorate Sugar cookies: Make sugar cookies in the shape (respective holidays) and let the kids decorate them in any way that they want. Give sprinkles, frosting, and cookie crumbs)




Winter(Indoor):

Painting is such a mess, but kids always love the special treat of getting to paint. Save glue bottles at the end of the school year and wash them out really good. Then pour the paint into the glue bottles and let kids draw away.  (Also paint recipe : 1 cup flour, 1 cup salt, 1 cup water, food coloring of your choice. HOW AWESOME because you never have to worry about littler ones sticking their hands in their mouth during painting. Yeah. It's not going to taste good, but there are no toxins!)


Sponge Finger painting: Cut up a sponge and soak up paint.  Makes finger painting 10x easier.



Colored Spaghetti: Fill Ziploc bags with 1/4 cup of water and food coloring. Add spaghetti and let it soak up the color! What a cool change  to lunch time.


Puzzle Bags: Getting new games and puzzles can be extremely exciting for kids. Buy a pencil bag for each puzzle or game and put all of the pieces into the bag and never worry about the box falling apart again. This is great for puzzles. Take a picture of the more complicated ones and put it in front of the pieces so kids can see which puzzle they are putting together.


"Messless Makeup:" Take old makeup containers and pour fingernail polish into the containers. Little girls think it is real, but you don't have to worry about cleaning it off their faces.



Dollar Store Heaven: Give the kids 5 dollars and they can get whatever they want. (Cover their tax or teach them about taxes.)

Moon Sand: 8 Cups of Flour, 1 Cup of Baby Oil, Big Tub for playing in and little cups. It's a great alternative for the beach during the winter.

This website has a ton of activities to do with books. Great for a rainy or snowy day home from school
100 Activities to do with children books



Uh-OH moments: Now, I know children are not always innocent and cute and sometimes they need a consequence for some of their actions. Many parents have a hard time figuring out those consequences and I know that someday I will have to try to figure out how I will do it. Here are some ideas that aren't too harsh.


Time Bottles: Fill a bottle with 3/4 water and a ton of glitter. When they get put into time out, let them shake the bottle as hard as they can, then have them sit and watch the glitter settle. When it is completely settled, time is up!

Oh No Bucket!: Teaching kids to pick up their toys off the floor can be hard. Getting a bucket and write "You left it out, I picked it up. I've got your stuff , you're out of luck! To get it back must do a chore, and again it is yours just like before! What a great way to teach them to pick up after themselves. This sounds like such a cool idea to get your kids to learn the importance of picking up their toys out of the living area. 

Weight Loss

       I know how much of a dreaded topic this is, but I have been trying so hard to work on it and lose weight. Over Christmas and now that I am out of school and my parents house, I have been focusing more on eating cheap than eating healthy. Well, since I graduated high school, I have gained 10 pounds. My military cadre isn't happy about that and I have drill on Saturday. UGH! I know I am not the only one out there who struggles with losing weight or being healthy, but I need to write this post so I can put it out there, because let's face it. Losing weight is next to impossible to do when you are trying to hide it from everyone else.

Goal weight: 130

Current weight: 155.

Weight to lose: 25 lbs. 

When: March 18th, 2013

(The day of my graduation party and the 5k 

race my mom and I are doing together)

 There. Now everyone can see what I have to go for.

      Okay. So from the time I was young, I always weighed a little bit more than most of the people in my class. I was always a little heavier. It never really bothered me until about my freshman year. I am sick of hiding it. 

Here is how I'm going to do it:

Eat breakfast. 

That is the most over stated diet tip EVER, but whether it helps a lot or not weight wise, it does help you stay focused until meals. 

Snack.

6 small meals a day. I will find pinterest snacks that I can make at home. Other snacks to include: Peanuts, Yogurt, String Cheese, and Produce

Workout:

I will run 3 times a week (whether at the Y or when it warms up), I will swim (at the y) at least 2 times a week (After my tattoo is healed). And I will weight lift at least two times a week. But I will have one day off a week from working out. 

Rewards:

I saw this on a blog today. 

For the weight you lose, you create rewards. As you get closer to your goal weight, the rewards go up in price until you hit your goal weight.

My rewards/ Weights:

150- New $5 Movie

145- Night out to the movies (With Sean of course)

140- New Zumba Video/Game

135- Hair professionally dyed/ eye brows done

130-1 full new outfit

Pinterest:

Some detox things on pinterest make me wonder if they really work, so I will try them, but only if I feel like they might actually work.

Low Carb ( PROCESSED CARBS)

    Out of all of the diets/health styles I have ever tried, Low carbs proved to show great results. (Other than me being a vegetarian, but I couldn't do that again). In the next few weeks I will spend my time looking over low carb websites and cook books. I am going to put together a cookbook file for anyone interested in downloading/printing themselves. With this I want to create an entire cookbook so I won't go back to the easy meals that I already know. If I already have a book of recipes waiting for me, I can slowly implement them. This way I won't have to spend hours searching for recipes while trying to plan out groceries.

   My goal is to eventually ease into a clean eating diet. I am being realistic by saying that your taste buds aren't going to change over night. I am going to ease Sean and I into it, but I want it to become a lifestyle.

     I will try to do a weekly post about what I have been doing and records of my weekly weigh in.., but I am always looking for tips. My goal is to change the way Sean and I eat, so when (A LOONGG time from now) we have kids, our kids won't have to face the struggle. I want our kids to be active and healthy like I was when I was younger, but I truly hope they never face this like Sean and I both have. My ultimate goal is to completely retrain our taste buds into wanting healthy food, but the sooner we get out of McDonald's, the better for our health. 

    Now, I know I am not the fattest person ever. But I am SICK of being fat, and I am sick of hating to wear dresses/shorts because I don't like the way I look. My goal is that when I leave for AIT, I will be in the best shape of my life. I am sick of always coming back to trying to find ways to lose weight right before drill. I simply don't want to have to worry about stepping on the scale every day.

This is me. I AM going to change and I am going to be different.