Rice and Beans, Beans and Rice

No - it's not a new diet craze, although I did start week 4 down 18.2 pounds. It's one of my favorite Dave Ramsey sayings. We finally resolved Trinks' school issue. We removed her from public school. I swear Karen is somewhere laughing at me because she refused to live in DE due to the school systems. I was was the right combination of optimistic and lazy, so I thought we'd be fine. WRONG!

So now we are shelling out a crapload of cash to send the kids to private school as well as get on a bus to kung fu. Is it worth it? Absolutely! Trinks bounds out of bed to get dressed, pack her lunch and help her brother. She comes home is a great mood and doesn't yell at us when we work with her on her homework. She is very pleasant to be around. I didn't realize how bad the situation was at the old school, but I am so happy we moved her.

So this move puts my financial goals on hold for this year. I am working on a budget now that should allow us to travel, but not run through our emergency fund. We need new tires for both cars, possibly a new heating/ac unit, and some basic home repairs. In the spring, I will most likely start looking for a new job, as I am severely underpaid for my skillset. I am also working on some food plans that include a lot of beans and rice, rice and beans. Back to being uber frugal and owning each dollar.

Week 2 update

I've been very busy lately. Work is insane, but it always is in January. I've had a bit more energy, so I've been more productive when I get home. A lot of my free time is spent in the kitchen chopping, cutting, and portioning meals and snacks. The drawback of eating ingredients, as Trinks calls them, is there is nothing to just grab in a time crunch. We had a meal foul up this week and it was a struggle to find something to replace it. I'm still on board because I am down 16 pounds and love eating this way. Go me!

I've noticed a few things during these two weeks. I love cabbage. I really love cabbage. As a kid, I hated cabbage in all forms. Several years ago I decided to add purple cabbage to my salad because it looks pretty. Still hated it, but knew it was healthy so I added it. Now I love it. I love it sauteed, in soup, in cole slaw (without mayo - ick poo), raw - any form at all. I like green and purple. So this week, my veggie soup is chock full of cabbage and I made some slaw with sesame oil (heavenly) and rice vinegar with salt, pepper and garlic. I've also noticed that pretty much everyone likes what I make for dinner. No, I did not force my curried cauliflower down anyone's throat, but the regular meals are pretty darn good. I also put onions and garlic in everything and we are constantly running out of them. And my crockpot is amazing.

Tomorrow starts week 3. I am completely prepared for it. Tonight we had shredded chicken tacos. I had the chicken over lettuce with a tomotillo sauce and chopped avocados. The family had regular tacos. Tomorrow the kids are trying lentils in Moroccan Chicken over lentils. Tuesday is sandwich night and Wednesday is Pioneer Dinner. That would be sausage with potatoes, carrots, and onions. S will be in heaven. Thursday is another chicken dinner and Friday is Parents Night Out, so we're going to the Cheesecake factory. With a plan, anything is possible.

I am moving the budget/financial goals up to the next priority. Trinks is getting pulled out of her miserable school and placed in a better school. The new school costs money. So financial goal may change as we figure out where the cash is coming from. But in good news, Trinks brought home the highest state reading score in her grade. She blasted through to Advanced. Next week is the math. And somehow we have to move her to the new school in the next 2 weeks. Life is an adventure.

Challenge #1 - Passed!

So for meal out #1, I did great. I had a really great spicy steak salad and didn't get any dressing, even on the side. The dressing was ginger/soy, which I love, but soy sauce has wheat in it, so I declined. The meat and sauteed veggies lent enough moisture to make dressing completely unnecessary.

Today's total of weight lost is 13.2. Yesterday I noticed that I didn't have asthma chest pains when I walked outside in the cold. My random joint pain is gone. I have energy. Five days down, 23 to go with the challenge. In 23 days, I'll decide the next steps, but this eating style is very maintainable. And delicious.

The next challenge is dinner out in Philly. I don't know where we are going, but I know I can find something on the menu. Then I have lunch in NYC. I checked out the menu and picked out a really good salmon salad. I'll hold the dill sauce, but go for the slaw. They don't use mayo (ick poo) so it's really good. Tomorrow I will prepare my breakfast for while I am away as well as setting up next week for breakfast and lunch. Our menu for the week? Here it is.

Monday - Apple Chicken
Tuesday - sandwich night for the family, I will eat leftovers on the way to Girl Scouts.
Wednesday - Shrimp and Asparagus stir fry
Thursday - Lime Ginger chicken
Friday - Orange chicken

***order subject to change upon mood.

All of these will be served with veggies that the kids pick out. The family will eat rice, baked potatoes, or rolls. I'll have either brown rice or quinoa, both of which I make ahead of time and heat up when needed.

Day 4 of my Health goals

I have been eating more veggies than I ever have in my life, and I've always ate lots of vegetables. The only grain I am eating this week is quinoa - with almond milk and blueberries. It looks moldy, but tastes great. I have avoided all processed food, although almond milk is probably considered processed. I've had no sugar - coffee black with cinnamon. No sweets.

I've been weighing myself every morning just to keep my focus. The first day I was down 3 pounds - nice! Day 2 - I jumped on the scale. I rubbed my eyes. Jumped off. Reset the scale. Got back on. Squinted at the scale. Shook my head. Jumped off. Reset and got back on. It was true - down 10 pounds. This morning I am down another pound. I know it's the water weight and all that, but damn! It's keeping me on track. My goal is to lose around 50 pounds before we go to Disney in June. I am on my way!!!!

My challenge: This weekend we are going out to eat several times. I need to remain focused. I also need to prepare for next week like I prepared for this week. When I have a plan, I can do anything.

2011 Goals

Before I get to the goals, can I cross "find mouse" off if I bought a mouse for the other computer (which I managed to kill in less than 24 hours of opening the box)? While you ponder that question, here are my ideas for this year.

Health. I plan to work on my overall health this year. My numbers are great - cholesterol 143 (ratio is off because the LDLs are 40) and my glucose is 85 whether I am fasting or not. My blood pressure is creeping up from the standard 110/70 and I want to keep it back in the safe zone. My weight, of course, needs some work. So to accomplish better overall health and deal with some food sensativities, I am eliminating processed foods from my diet. I have been feeling like absolute crap lately and I have pinpointed it to after I eat gluten, white sugar, eggs and corn syrup. The symptoms aren't too specific, but random radiating pain, joint aches and muscle fatigue seem to sum it up. The key is, the symptoms go away when I eliminate these things from my diet. If they stuck around, it would be a different plan of attack, such as SEE A DOCTOR FOR PETE'S SAKE!

Over the last year or so, I have done a TON of reading. No one author really fit with what I hoped to accomplish. Dr. Mark Hyman has great books about inflamation, but I don't like some of his food suggestions. The raw movement is great, but I can't stay on it indefinitely. I love how I feel with the green shakes and salads full of colorful vegetables. I just need some cooked meat or sauteed veggies every once in a while. Doug Kaufman and Leann Ely have plans that seems to incorporate what I need and can continue for the rest of my life. So today I chopped, cooked, and chopped some more so I have a week's worth of breakfast and lunches ready for my lunch box. It's good food - a nice veggie soup in a chicken broth with a salad for lunch, quinoa with bluberries and almond milk for breakfast. I'll throw some green shakes in for fun. There is supposed to be a variety for all meals, but I have to do the same all week in order to get it all done. I'll change is up next week. Dinners are simple meals that the whole family will like, such as chicken and apples, Jambalaya, and Mediterranean chicken. Tuesday remains sandwich night for them, so they won't suffer too much. I'll see how this goes and tweak it as I get a better idea of where I want to go.

Hubs wants to improve his health, too. He mentioned that his clothes are getting tight too. We discussed what his approach is going to be. He's fond of the processed low cal food and has been successful with losing weight that way. So we got him his Rice Crispies and skim milk and deli meat and salad. For once we are working on this project together and can work together when one of us feels weak.

Finance As usual, we have some financial goals. After I paid off the car 3 years early, I lost my focus. Now I need to focus to kick the Home Equity Loan to the curb this year. Debt makes me really nervous, so the mortgage is the next target. It's a small amount each month, but I hate being in a position of owing someone! With one child in private school and another probably going there next year, it will be a challenge. But I love Dave Ramsey, Suze Orman and Gail Vaz Oxlade. Their words of wisdom and awesome shows and podcasts will help me refocus on getting out of debt.

Education Trinks needs a new school. Her cirriculum is weak and will not prepare her for middle school. I need a new school for 5th grade (or sooner)and then I will be happy with the 6-8 school. They finally let kids get left behind in middle school, so she can get in tracked classes. Her standardized test scores indicate she'll be in advanced math and reading. She has had no homework in math and no book reports or research report for any subject. She will die in middle school without these skills. If she gets too overwhelmed, she'll stop trying. I currently supplement her crappy homework. I had to beg the teacher for help. He's wonderful and probably thinks I am a nutcase. But in my defense, he sent home the wrong report card and almost gave me a nervous breakdown. I didn't know how I could have been so out of touch with my child's grades.

My education goal is to complete my Tax Ceritifaction. No, I don't want to go to class anymore. I learned that I would have to reimburse my company for the class I took and decided I can suck it up and go to class for the next 1.5 years. I'm too cheap to drop out. It should look good on a resume. If my pay doesn't start matching my skill, I'll need a strong resume.

I have some random house and family goals, but I haven't fleshed them out. They include getting more involved in scouts and kung fu. Perhaps hubs and I will join the kids? I plan to continue to declutter and become a minimalist. Who knows where this year will take us. I have the framework. We'll see what we can accomplish.

The road to 40

I just turned 39. The real 39. I never lie about my age because I think people who try to say they are younger are idiots. I mean it you are 39 and try to tell people you are 30, they are going to think you look really crappy for 30. I earned each year and I am not ashamed of my age. Then comes FORTY. In 11.5 months I will be the dreaded 40. And how do I feel about that? I really feel that the 40s will be better than the 30s. I spent the 20's trying to sort out a career, figuring out how much of a goober I really was and then starting to have kids. The 30s were spent raising those kids to school age. Now they barely need us, except to run them from activity to activity. Not better, just different.

So the road to forty. I always pictured freaking out over turning 40. In 4th grade, we read a story called The Milestone. The family gave the mother a surprise party (so help me if anyone does that for me, I will kill them) because the mother was sad about turning 40. It focused on how half of her life was over. Pretty morbid crap for 4th graders to read. They way I see it, I'll have spent 40 years figuring stuff out, so the rest of my years will be smoother. This is my decade to shine. Let's just not talk about turning 50.

Sometime this weekend, or even later today, I am posting my goals for the year. I hope to reach 40 a healthier, happier, wealthier woman. Go me. Of course my first goal is to find my missing mouse so I can do some time suck games on Facebook.