Here I am!! It has only been a week (as opposed to the year that it usually is!) I am probably gonna keep this short (if I can) and just update on the modified processed/fast food thing I am doing around here. I haven't gone completely unprocessed, although I hope that one day I do. Still working on some pantry items and I can't help but buy a Diet Coke every once in a while. I have had 3 in the last 11 days. That is pretty good since I used to have at LEAST 1 a day. I am also not really sure what I am going to do for my flavored coffee creamer. It is FULL of crazy stuff I can't pronounce. That is another thing that I don't put in my coffee every day, but it sure is good when I do!! I will probably always use Stevia even though it is technically processed, but I figure one packet every few days is still better than white sugar. My kids have surprised me a lot during these 11 days. They have never been super picky eaters, but I have fed them some stuff that I am really surprised they like. They have eaten up broccoli, celery, and grape tomatoes like champs. I will admit, I have given them some ranch to dip it in sometimes, but mostly I have given them hummus and they eat it up! They are also fans of plain yogurt! I put honey in it because really, plain yogurt is grody!! I know that honey has the same amount of nutrition (almost 0) and the same amount of calories as sugar, but I am going with the non-processed version of foods. I have made food at home every day the last 11 days. I just pulled easy and healthy meals off of food network. My kids even liked the kitchen catch-a-tory (that is what my 6 year old called it) My son loved the marshmallows in it (I tried to tell them they were mushrooms, but he still refers to them as marshmallows!!) It was chicken and vegetables. I wasn't surprised at the spaghetti type meals, but the fact that they liked the chicken and vegetables was a nice surprise. It was the Ellie Krieger version in case you are wondering... I know this would be much more difficult if my kids were picky. When I put it on their plates I fully expected to be making them a peanut butter and honey sandwich after they took a bite. I did tell them before I even put it in front of them that they had to try it. At least 2 bites of chicken and 2 bites of vegetables. They ate it all and my 6 year old asked for more.
I really thought that my kiddos would protest the "natural" peanut butter, but my son still asks for spoonfuls of it as much as he asked for the kind with sugar or corn syrup. The main thing that I am gonna have to figure out is what to do for dessert. The plain yogurt with honey works at lunch time, but so far after dinner we have totally broken the non processed thing because they eat ice cream (I just eat one bite!). White sugar versions of things are very easily accessible. My thought process is if I avoid them as much as I can, I am going to avoid eating too many sweets.
I am gonna go ahead and sign off now. My house is a mess (but it pretty much always is) and I can't even walk through my laundry room right now. I should probably try to get something accomplished today (although I think this was a pretty good accomplishment!)
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Random
Seriously...why do I do this? It has been almost a year (again) since my last post. It doesn't feel like it has been that long, but everything seems to fly by now! I don't really have any funny stories to tell right now, but I should REALLY be cleaning my house and that just doesn't sound fun (after all...I am the sloppy mommy!) It is interesting how I have had a LOT of views since my last post almost a year ago. I am going to pretend that it isn't a certain someone I know who gets bored at work and checks all of the webpages of all the people she knows (yes...I am talking to you! Have you been here 504 times?) My kids are in here watching Monsters Inc. I don't like to watch movies every day, but it is SO hot outside right now, and I can justify it because of our hour and a half long dance-off this afternoon. If you think my six year old lets anyone sit out a song, you are wrong. We did some fancy moves to "One Thing" (4 times...we almost have a complete routine to that one) and some lyrical ballet-ish stuff to the slower Taylor Swift stuff. My son just kinda rolled around on the floor and screamed out the parts of any of the songs he knew! It was funny how many of the songs he at least knew some part of.
Right now at my house I am dog sitting. I have my grandparents dog and my aunts dog. It is interesting. My kids are all very well potty trained, and if they have the urge to barf, they know to go to the toilet or the trash can. If I could train the dogs, that would be fabulous. We have had 3 mystery pukes, and 2 mystery poops since they have been here (this is just the second full day). It makes me remember why I don't want any more dogs or children. I am kinda done with the poop/puke stage. My kids have also somewhat started giving me some privacy when I have to "use it". Not so much with the dogs. My own dog finds it necessary to follow me in and sit behind my feet and the other two just sit at the toilet door and watch while they are flapping their tails. I would close the door, but the light is burned out in that little area so I have to keep the door to that part of the bathroom opened to the sink area. The light is REALLY high and takes a special light bulb or it would be changed right now. I put in a regular light bulb a few days ago and it burned out in a couple of switches. (I just feel like I need to explain myself here!!) I made the mistake of asking them if they were enjoying the show and evidently one of them decided that was an invitation to jump in my lap. It was supposed to be just a short trip to the potty, but nothing brings on peepee anxiety like an audience and lap visitor...
Anyway, I really don't have much to blog about today. I was going to write about how I am trying really hard to stop eating processed food. I am not so into it that I went in and threw away all the crap in my pantry, but I am going to try really hard not to buy it any more. I am just on day 5 of my journey. It hasn't been hard (except Diet Coke). I have made really good food and it hasn't taken me more than 30 minutes (and usually less than that) to make meals. It helps that now that my kids are bigger they can actually help in the kitchen and I don't feel like it is time away from them, and it also helps that I am off of work for the summer. I feel like right now is the "Practice" time and when school starts I will have a lot of easy recipes on hand and the grocery list down a little better. I will blog more about that journey as I get a little more into it. Consider this the beginning post. I will update as I go. I think what made me really think about the crap we eat was when I took my kids in for their yearly check up. The Doctor asked me if they ate fast food less than once a week or more than once a week. I said they eat it ABOUT once a week. I am not really sure how accurate that was. We definitely make a trip to Chik-fil-a or Taco Bueno or another not so fast restaurant once a week, but we also eat a lot of store bought chicken nuggets and eat a lot of processed american cheese on our lunch meat sandwiches. I just feel like we need to eat better in our sloppy household. I vowed for 10 days without eating out and as we finish up the junk food in our house I am replacing it with healthier versions of the same thing. I am sure our groceries are going to cost more (which really stinks) but in the end it will cost less since we won't eat out as much. My husband first thought when I told him that I wanted to do this that I wanted to go vegetarian or do some big diet program. I don't intend to "diet" at all. I am going to pay attention to my portion sizes, but his skinny self can eat as much as he wants. I just want to eat REAL food. Not processed food that has a lot of crap added. We will see how it goes. The crap is SO easily accessible, but even in the last 5 days I have discovered that healthy stuff is not really inaccessible. It just takes a tiny bit more effort. I think the long run benefits will far outweigh the effort. We will see (hopefully before next July, but given my blog history I really don't know if you can count on that!!) The Byrd's may never be any less sloppy, but we are going to work really hard to be a lot healthier!
My goal is to make another post by next Saturday (July 21, 2012...that is 2012)
Right now at my house I am dog sitting. I have my grandparents dog and my aunts dog. It is interesting. My kids are all very well potty trained, and if they have the urge to barf, they know to go to the toilet or the trash can. If I could train the dogs, that would be fabulous. We have had 3 mystery pukes, and 2 mystery poops since they have been here (this is just the second full day). It makes me remember why I don't want any more dogs or children. I am kinda done with the poop/puke stage. My kids have also somewhat started giving me some privacy when I have to "use it". Not so much with the dogs. My own dog finds it necessary to follow me in and sit behind my feet and the other two just sit at the toilet door and watch while they are flapping their tails. I would close the door, but the light is burned out in that little area so I have to keep the door to that part of the bathroom opened to the sink area. The light is REALLY high and takes a special light bulb or it would be changed right now. I put in a regular light bulb a few days ago and it burned out in a couple of switches. (I just feel like I need to explain myself here!!) I made the mistake of asking them if they were enjoying the show and evidently one of them decided that was an invitation to jump in my lap. It was supposed to be just a short trip to the potty, but nothing brings on peepee anxiety like an audience and lap visitor...
Anyway, I really don't have much to blog about today. I was going to write about how I am trying really hard to stop eating processed food. I am not so into it that I went in and threw away all the crap in my pantry, but I am going to try really hard not to buy it any more. I am just on day 5 of my journey. It hasn't been hard (except Diet Coke). I have made really good food and it hasn't taken me more than 30 minutes (and usually less than that) to make meals. It helps that now that my kids are bigger they can actually help in the kitchen and I don't feel like it is time away from them, and it also helps that I am off of work for the summer. I feel like right now is the "Practice" time and when school starts I will have a lot of easy recipes on hand and the grocery list down a little better. I will blog more about that journey as I get a little more into it. Consider this the beginning post. I will update as I go. I think what made me really think about the crap we eat was when I took my kids in for their yearly check up. The Doctor asked me if they ate fast food less than once a week or more than once a week. I said they eat it ABOUT once a week. I am not really sure how accurate that was. We definitely make a trip to Chik-fil-a or Taco Bueno or another not so fast restaurant once a week, but we also eat a lot of store bought chicken nuggets and eat a lot of processed american cheese on our lunch meat sandwiches. I just feel like we need to eat better in our sloppy household. I vowed for 10 days without eating out and as we finish up the junk food in our house I am replacing it with healthier versions of the same thing. I am sure our groceries are going to cost more (which really stinks) but in the end it will cost less since we won't eat out as much. My husband first thought when I told him that I wanted to do this that I wanted to go vegetarian or do some big diet program. I don't intend to "diet" at all. I am going to pay attention to my portion sizes, but his skinny self can eat as much as he wants. I just want to eat REAL food. Not processed food that has a lot of crap added. We will see how it goes. The crap is SO easily accessible, but even in the last 5 days I have discovered that healthy stuff is not really inaccessible. It just takes a tiny bit more effort. I think the long run benefits will far outweigh the effort. We will see (hopefully before next July, but given my blog history I really don't know if you can count on that!!) The Byrd's may never be any less sloppy, but we are going to work really hard to be a lot healthier!
My goal is to make another post by next Saturday (July 21, 2012...that is 2012)
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