Paleo

What does paleo mean here is what Wikipedia says: The modern dietary regimen known as the Paleolithic diet (abbreviated paleo diet or paleodiet), also popularly referred to as the caveman diet, Stone Age diet and hunter-gatherer diet, is a nutritional plan based on the presumed ancient diet of wild plants and animals that various human species habitually consumed during the Paleolithic era—a period of about 2.5 million years duration that ended around 10,000 years ago with the development of agriculture. In common usage, such terms as the "Paleolithic diet" also refer to the actual ancestral human diet. Centered on commonly available modern foods, the "contemporary" Paleolithic diet consists mainly of grass-fed pasture raised meats, fish, vegetables, fruit, roots, and nuts, and excludes grains, legumes, dairy products, salt, refined sugar, and processed oils.

Alright now that we have that out of the way we will go on. My friend and Paleo follower Chelssie came over last week and while J and Ian played we talked Paleo. After going over what I eat throughout the day I'm already following the Paleo way in some ways such as (this is what I'm eating today and usually eat everyday I like routine what can I say):

Breakfast: scrambled eggs- paleo approved
morning snack: rice chex- not paleo approved but doesn't have gluten so still kinda good
mid morning snack: carrots- paleo approved
Lunch: Applegate deli meat, strawberries- paleo approved
afternoon snack: rice crackers- not paleo approved due to the rice but better than other crackers
pre-dinner snack: protein bar- no good
Dinner: chicken teriyaki- good but the rice is not paleo approved but better than noodles

So overall on any given day I'm eating at least 80% if not more paleo than not. Which is good and I'm staying away from glutens which is also good.  One can determine on their own how strict of a paleo follower one wants to be.  Come Christmas I may fall off the paleo wagon but I won't fall off without trying to hang on I've got almond flour and I'm researching alternatives to refined sugar and brown sugar as well and will playing around with some of my favorite Christmas cookie recipes. My Trader Joes shopping list is growing.

Below is a picture of a meal Chelssie made this past month:


Fresh strawberries, roasted squash and broccoli, carribean jerk chicken

Can you say yummy?!?! She also just sent me a link of some info to read through that I haven't gotten to look at it throughly yet but from what I did read and what Chelssie told me as well is that paleo requires preperation.  Off to prepare some sweet potatoes which are my new protein bar replacement.

Smile

A couple weeks ago we met up with our photographer from Knox Photography for 5yr anniversary, family and 18mos photos. We of course had a great time, we went to the school area that is right near our house where there is a Prairie and served as a great background.  I also wanted to get some of Ian on the playground since he is after all a 18mo old boy who doesn't spend his days wearing white linen pants or white button down shirts.

Paleo Police

So in order to dive into this paleo world a little more than just for breakfast I have decided to call in my good friend/Paleo know-it-all friend Chelssie. She and he family have been living paleo for almost a year.  When I asked her to come over and go through my pantry and fridge she said I will probably hate her so we will see come Thursday.  I did remind her that I am the one that is asking for this.  I won't be throwing anything out but when it's something I only eat and it's not paleo approved then once it's gone it will not be purchased again. So we will only be focusing on the foods I eat (good thing I indulged this past weekend into some of the naughty stuff) not what Marcus or Ian eat. I'm quite certain my fruit/veggie bowl will be safe...I HOPE!!!

Till Thursday check out this video that kindergartens the paleo way of eating.

<iframe width="420" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/uCFZoqmKf5M" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>iframe>
 

Sunday nights

My Sunday nights usually look like this:

Earlier in the day I already went through all the ads and coupon inserts and pulled out the coupons that I will use and clipped them.  Don't get the Sunday paper then sign up to receive notifications of coupons via email (I sent up a gmail account for all coupon notifcations to be sent too) from websites such as RedPlum, Print Coupons Online, also check out TheKrazyCouponLady there she will do the research for you if you don't have the patience or time.

I gather up my 4 store ads that I always look at: Meijer, Target, CVS and Walgreens.  I compare my list to the ads and what coupons I have.  When it comes to bathroom personal essentials I feel we can never have too many now too many to you may be different than too many to me so that is up for translation. I'm in no means a candidate for Extreme Couponing.  As the week goes on and we run low/out of something then I add it to the list and come Sunday night I break my 1 list down to 4-5 lists with the store names on top and then what I'm getting from that store and cross the item off my master list of needs.  The other thing we do is make out our menu for the week based on what we have in our freezer, what's on sale and what our palettes are craving.  Now when I say a menu I don't say on Monday we are eating such and such and Tuesday such and such.  Instead when I make out our dinner options I choose 3 that are kinda quick and easy and 3 that are a little more time consuming for the days I'm off work.  And we pick that day which one we are going to have for dinner.  I know some families have it planned down to the day and that is a bit too much structure for our family.

I primarily look to CVS and Walgreens for our bathroom personal essentials: razors, shampoo/conditioner, body wash, face wash, lotion, girly items, etc.  With both of these stores they often have money back offers with different products for example a couple weeks ago Walgreens had the brand of tampons I buy for 6.99-$2 (in store rebate, to be used on a later purchased) then I had a $2 off coupon. I also had buy one get one of the same product and for each of those I got $2 so I really got buy 1 get 2 free with the coupon and in-store rebates.  Another great buy I had was on Bic razors they were buy 1 get 1 50%off and I had a $2 off coupon which was applied to both packages of razors. I also used some in store rebates from the previous week to help pay for the items.

At all 4 stores you can combine manufacturers coupons with store coupons this is where my research comes into play.  Since we don't buy pre-packaged meals I turn to stores websites for coupons off produce and deli.  I also go to Aldi for produce and items that we aren't brand specific about such as certain cereals, baking items, milk, etc.

Meijer: you can sign up for mperks where you can "clip" coupons and when you go to check out you select the mperks logo and you enter your phone number into the kiosk and any coupons that correspond with what you purchased.  Last week I decided before going to the store to print out a list of the coupons I "clipped" and  I'm glad I did as I purchased items I had "clipped" coupons for but it wasn't taking them off so with my proof of clipped coupons an employee was able to make the proper price adjustment. 

Target:  there is no limit to how many times you can print the same coupon from their website unlike brand websites.  They also take $0.05 off for each bag you bring in to bag your groceries with.

Brand Websites: If you are brand specific on certain items as we are in our house then go to the brands website they often will have coupons that you can print off.  If we buy juice at our house then it's V8 Fusion juice so i will google V8 Fusion and find their website where they almost always have coupons for.  And then if I have a store coupon I pair them together and wait, I wait for the store that I have the coupon too has the juice on sale and then I go in for "kill", haha.

Diapers:  I have stopped buying diapers from big box stores and now they get them sent to our door on a monthly basis from Amazon if you sign up for their subscribe and save program you save 30% and you can cancel your subscription at anytime.  So right now I get 192 Pampers size 4 for $31.49 that's $0.16 a diaper and free shipping.  If I went to Sam's Club I would buy Sam's Club brand and would get about 147 diapers for $35.00...

Couponing is not hard once you get started and organized and have yourself a game plan.  Happy clipping and if you have any questions feel free to email.

California Girl

it fits

I took out my dress that I wore on our wedding day 5yrs ago for 2 reasons: 1. to try it on for kicks and giggles and 2. to take it out of the preservation box to fluff and refold and create new creases. Suppose to do this every 5yrs we'll see if I can fit into it in another 5yrs. One can always have a goal right?

So if anything 5yrs later I didn't require any undergarment holder inner thingy and if I were to wear it again now more than just in my parents basement I would require alterations (this dress was straight off the rack no alterations, nothing) in the shirt area, dang pumping (I love you Ian).



Wedding day Aug 12, 2006



5yrs later Aug 12 2011

It feels good to say that after 5yrs and a child I can still fit into my wedding dress with some room to spare. But it's never to soon to start prepping for the 10yr fitting, I'm off to count some calories...umm yeah I just wrote this while eating chips ahoy cookies and we won't talk about the fact that I had pizza for dinner and also nieman marcus cake for dessert at my aunts. Maybe we'll start counting tomorrow, it's a new day or maybe I'll start on Monday, Monday's are good days to start something. Off to stuff my face some more since calorie counting doesn't start till tomorrow or Monday or whenever I decide to get back on track.

Jeans

Thanks to Crowdtap I got to sample Old Navy jeans and boy did I sample I think I tried on about 6 different pairs 3 different times the poor fitting room attendant.  What I found when tyring on was that a size 8 fit the same as a size 10 in the waist band area, can you say loaded with spandex??  I really liked these

But...I needed long inseam and they only carry long or petite inseams online and my coupon for a sample was for in-store use only so I stepped out of my jean comfort box of bootcut and flares and got:

SKINNY JEANS

For the sole purpose of in the winter not having to stuff a bootcut or flare into my boots this afternoon I tested a winter errand running look out.  No I didn't go out into public to test it just to our spare bedroom that doesn't have a bed...yet.