{And this is why I coupon...}

If you read my guest blog yesterday over at Pure & Simple Organizing, you discovered my LOVE for coupons!!  I cannot imagine life without coupons.  They are the absolute best thing ever...well, at least I think so!!  It's FREE money people!!  FREE money that comes to you each and every weekend in your newspaper, and sometimes through the week as an added bonus.

I started couponing almost 4 years ago by clicking a link from an email I received from my mom.  I think I fell in love the minute I started reading and looking at drug store scenarios this awesome lady had so graciously put on her blog.  I couldn't believe how much stuff you could get for FREE.  And not just meaningless stuff but products I use everyday.  It was A-mazing!! 

That was 4 years ago.  I was such a rookie then :)  I'm pretty sure with the amount of couponing now under my belt,  I can confidently call myself a polished rookie.  I'm still learning everyday.  I enjoy any extra knowledge I can acquire to help save my family money on daily necessities in order to save extra money for Kayleigh's savings and splurges here & there. 

Pictured above is my CVS haul from this afternoon.  Want to guess my out of pocket total??  Keep reading for my steal reveal :) 

Today I grabbed:

• 4 Speed Stick Deodorants on sale @ $1.99 each
• 1 Old Spice Body Wash on sale @ $3.49
• 2 Gillette ProGlide Razors @ $10.99 each
• 3 boxes of Puffs on sale @ .88 each
• 2 Colgate toothpastes on sale @ $2.74 each
• 2 Dawn on sale @ .98 each
• 3 Hallmark cards @.99 each
• 2 Reese peanut butter eggs on sale @ .87 each
• 1 carmel chew @ .33

I went shopping today armed with my coupons, $6.75 in Extra Care Bucks from last week, and a gift card holding a balance of $3.65.  Before store sales, tax and coupons I have $68.82 in merchandise.  Please be advised I did NOT spend that much money.  My grand total after coupons, store sales, ECBs and my gift card today was.........Drum roll please...............$6.83.  That's a savings of 90%.  Woohoo!  It feels great to walk out of the store with all of that merchandise having only paid pennies on the dollar...and I did it morally & legally. And as an added bonus, I have $10 ECB to spend next week. That is exciting!! 

I highly recommend checking out a couple of my favorite coupon blogs such as Southern Savers & Money Saving Mom.  Both sites have great tutorial pages.  I would be happy to help answer questions you may have as well :)

{Wrapping up the Weekend & My Guest Blog Post!}

Since I already had a topic in mind, that wasn't time friendly, I went ahead and created today's post.  However, I completely forgot I was guest blogging today at my fabulous best friend Jennifer's blog, Pure & Simple Organizing.  Check out my post about the fun topic of organizing coupons here (I'll let everyone in on my coupon addiction soon). 
--Jennifer owns a small business in Charlotte, North Carolina and specilizes in organizing EVERYTHING.  Whether it be your home, work, or life she is your your go-to girl!!  Please check her out...she really ROCKS!!

So I realize it's a little past the weekend, however I haven't had a ton of spare time to blog.  Sick children require a lot of time, love, and attention :)  Thankfully, Kayleigh is feeling better and is able to return to school and I to work.  Since we weren't able to get out and about this weekend I'm at a loss for fun and exciting news to blog.  So I decided to share some of Kayleigh's favorite meals or her "comfort foods" so to speak.  



I created this recipe via an appetizer McAlister's Deli used to have on their menu a couple years ago.  I'm not positive as to what McAlister's dubbed this particular item, but Kayleigh has created the name "green pizza".  I know, I know...green pizza just does not sound appetizing in the slightest.  However, you have to remember, she came up with this name a little over 2 years ago, and at that time she was identifying objects by color.  Seeing as that typical marinara sauce or "red" sauce is how she identified regular pizza, she saw the pesto as the base for this pizza and then came the name "Green Pizza."  While the appetizer from McAlister's was super yummy, I just knew I could recreate the same meal at home for much less...and I was RIGHT!!

For this super easy & quick meal or snack you will need:

• 1 sandwich wrap/tortilla like those made by Ole Mexican Foods. I personally use the high fiber/low carb. These are great for sandwiches as well and are only 2 points+ with WW.
• 1 Tbsp pesto
• Handfull of cheese (any kind you wish or have on hand).  I use mozarella
• Tomatoes or Rotel
• Grilled chicken (I normally use leftovers or you can use the precooked brand from the deli)

Preheat your oven at 375 degrees. Apply pesto to the entire wrap leaving a small edge. Top with cheese, tomatoes, chicken, etc. Cook for 10-15 minutes (depending on your oven and pan) until wrap is at your ideal crispness. Yumm!! 

Kayleigh's next request of the weekend was chicken tortilla soup.  I fixed this for supper a couple of weeks ago and she ate 2 bowls full...she never eats that much, NEVER!  I again used a restaurant's version of soup for my creation.  I really like On the Border's Chicken Tortilla Soup.  It's so yummy and warm and comforting...but I would rather make it from home a) because it's cheaper and b) because I know exactly what goes into the recipe and I know who made it.  Restaurants can be gross!!

For this recipe you will need:  

• 1/2 cup salsa
• 3 (14.5 oz) cans Chicken broth (I personally use the low/no sodium kind)
• 2 (6 oz) packages Pre-cooked chicken strips, cut into bite-sized pieces or 1 12 oz can of chicken
• 1/4 cup Whole kernel corn
• 4 tbsp Uncooked rice
• 1/2 cup Chopped onion
• 1/2 cup Finely chopped cilantro
• 1/2 cup Shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• Tortilla chips, broken 

Boil chicken broth in large soup pot. Add salsa and rice to broth. Cook about 15 minutes, or until rice is tender. Add chicken, onion, and cilantro. Cook until heated through.

To serve, break tortilla chips into each bowl. Ladel soup over chips. Top with cheese and 1 Tbsp of cubed avocado. Serve immediately.  Makes about 6 servings. 

My last quick little recipe isn't a meal...but a nice little snack.  I LOVE bananas.  They are a great filler for me.  I also love peanut butter...it's more of an addiction actually :)  For this you will need: 

• One banana
• 1 Tbsp Peanut Butter
• Chocolate Chips (just enough for the length of your banana)
• Aluminum foil

I cut a medium size banana length-wise, spread my peanut butter on one side and added 10 chocolate chips to the peanut butter so they wouldn't roll off. I placed the banana back together and wrapped in aluminum foil. I then stuck the banana in the freezer for about an hour.

OMG...it was sooooo delish!!  I'm sure you can leave the banana longer, but I just couldn't wait...I'm a little impatient at times :) 

Hope yall enjoyed my recipes.  Anyone have any favorite recipes you tend to want when you're sick or just need some comfort food?

{Loooooooong Day}

My day began around 2:45 this AM. Kayleigh woke up not feeling well and decided to crawl into our bed at that super early hour. And let me just be quite frank..3 people in a queen size bed JUST ISN'T COMFORTABLE. However, I stuck it out until 6 and finally started my morning. 

Kayleigh started complaining of feeling worse as we were getting ready. I decided to take her temp and just as luck would have it, she was running a fever. I just hate it when my princess is sick.  I hate knowing that she doesn't feel well and the most I can do is love on her. So we spent the day at home, watching cartoons and catching up on chores =)  Crossing my fingers she feels better in the AM but it isn't looking promising...her temp is going up =(

Thought I would sneak a quick pic of my cute lil sick princess.

{Whatcha' Eatin' Wednesday}

So I started thinking...since I am being accountable to my audience in regards of my exercising, why not be accountable on my meals as well.  Almost every nutritional/diet/lifestyle article I've ever read, mentions a food journal.  I love my Weight Watchers instructer's slogan, "You bite it, you write it."  With Weight Watchers you keep a daily log (paper or online) to track your points for the day.  This is very helpful when you reflect back, especially if you had a better weight loss week at some point.  You can check your journal and confirm what foods and activities worked better for your body on that particular day/week.  It's a win win, really.  Sometimes we don't realize how much we put in our mouth daily (I know I didn't)...but seeing it written in black and white makes you ask yourself "Do I REALLY need that pack of crackers/bag of chips/donut/cookie?"

With that being said, I thought I would start journaling my food intake once a week (Wednesday) and offering some healthy...but still yummy...recipes.  I love to share recipes, especially good ones!  And I really love when people share their yummiest recipes with me too! (Hint, Hint)  Everyone needs a little inspiration and something new to spice it up, right?

My Breakfast:

Peach Chobani Greek Yogurt.  This stuff is packed full of protein (14g) and has 0g of fat.  That works for me!  It keeps me satisfied throughout the morning so I'm not snacking on empty calories.  And it's also only 3 points+ with WW...SCORE!!

My Lunch:

Ok, don't judge :)  We had lunch catered in by a drug rep from a local Mexican restaurant.  The good news...I did NOT clean my plate and ate less than 10 tortilla chips.  To me, that's an accomplishment!  You see, I LOOOOOOOOVE Mexican food and normally there isn't a smidge left.  But today there was, so I don't feel that bad about it.  However, I do not EVEN want to try and guesstimate how many WW points+ this meal would be.

My Dinner:

We are planning to each manwich sandwiches for dinner.  Each manwich sandwich (including bun) is about 7 WW points+.  We are having slaw and french fries along with our sandwiches.  I'm still pretty full from lunch, so I plan to keep it light for dinner.

Last but not least...should you need help planning for dinner tonight, or any night this week, I highly recommend the Balsamic Chicken with Mushrooms recipe from WW.  It is so yummy, you would never know it was a light recipe...cross my heart!!  Matt loves this recipe.  He has requested it several times since I found the recipe this past summer.  That's how I determine if I will cook it again...I run it past him.  If we both approve, it's a keeper.  This is def a keeper!!

{Look fast...it's Sunshine!}

Hello sunshine!!!  And to top it off, it's a comfortable 55 degrees outside.  Ahhh...it makes me so happy!!!  If you are anywhere in my close vicinity, you know it's been a while since we've seen sunshine, or so it seems to me.  It was starting to be depressing with all the rain and clouds and blah.  I'm not sure how people live in Seattle, WA and enjoy it.  I NEED SUNSHINE people!!

I didn't realize how nice it was outside today until I returned from my lunch break.  I just had to step outside and catch a glimpse of that bright yellow ball...and decided to take a quick pic.  Sunshine just makes me feel better, period.  Now, I feel like I can make it through the rest of the day and take my booty to the gym, maybe tackle some of that laundry that got neglected yesterday, and possibly a grocery store trip.  Ehh...maybe I shouldn't push it...just kidding :)  Anyone else enjoy sunshine quite as much as me??
 

{Time, Time, Time}

Ever feel like there aren't enough hours in the day?  I'm pretty sure if I had 25 hours each day, I could complete an enormous amount of tasks.  It's amazing the difference one little hour can/could make.  I feel like I have to cram a bazillion things into the small amount of time I have after work for things like dinner, cleaning up, bath time, story time, bed time, working out, laundry, etc.  And what I don't complete through the week rolls into the weekend...and to be quite honest, that stinks!!  I don't want to spend my weekends doing chores, especially when Kayleigh is with me.  We should be having fun and spending time together.  Now I realize her helping me with some of the smaller chores teaches her responsibility and we've been doing this for a while.  But we shouldn't be heavy house cleaning on a Saturday when we could be doing other things.  I've got to make a schedule for each day and allot a certain amount of time for each chore/activity after my work day has ended.  Hopefully, I will can gain a little more control over the second part of my day. 

Anyone else have a schedule with blocked hours for certain chores?  How well does this work for you?  Please feel free to comment while I start on my chores for the evening since we just arrived home about 15 minutes ago.  I'll probably be up for a while :)

{Accountability}

I. Did. It!! Woohoo! I intended on running yesterday afternoon and I stuck to it. I know this sounds so small, but really, it's huge for me. After working all day and feeling like 5:00PM is nowhere in sight, the last thing I normally want to do is go out of my way to the gym, crawl out of my warm car just to get hot and sweaty from running on a treadmill. But not yesterday...I was excited to go!! (Granted, my muscles are cussing me out today, but that's OK! That means I worked SOMETHING.)

So I downloaded the Couch 2 5K app on my phone and got to it!! 
Running for me is such a cleansing activity. Bad day?...bad week?...bad month? Let it go and RUN!!

I plan to alternate Wii Zumba on my days off from C25K in hopes of toning some other muscles on this body blob :-) I'm also trying to incorporate my Weight Watchers points/eating back into this lifestyle as well.

I know I have a long road ahead, and realize I will not be skinny next week (oh how I wish it were that easy). But I plan to blog each day with my accomplishments, my not so accomplishments (I'm not real fond of the word 'failures'), and my every day life. Hope you'll stick around...this should turn out to be a fun ride!!

Anyone else out there being accountable??

{Dear Skinny...Please come back}

So this is me….8 years and a 5 year old ago =)  Oh, how I wish it all still looked like this.  But it doesn’t…and to be quite honest, it probably never will again.  But, that’s okay.  However, I do want to be lean and healthy again…and I could stand to see less poundage on the scale too!!

I hope what they say about pictures adding 10 lbs is true…because recently I decided to go home and take some pictures of my body.  Boy was I surprised.  “Oh my!”  That’s all I can say.  Well, that and “Oh my goodness, do I really look like that?!?!”  I thought about posting the pictures...but I quickly changed my mind.  It's not pretty y'all...not even close.  Bleh!

I’m currently at the 140-something mark and would loooooove be see the 120′s again…and I know I can do it.  It’s been done before, even after I had my princess.  I just need the determination and the will power.  Determination isn’t hard, I've already made my mind up…it’s the will power I need because I LOVE yummy foods!  Seriously, they are my weakness.  End of story.

I started Weight Watchers back in June of 2011 with my mom and did really well.  But then, like many, I fell off the wagon.  So this is my declaration to start back today for a healthier, skinnier, BETTER me!  Right now I have every intention of running at the gym after work...so cross your fingers I follow through =)

{Busy Weekend}

Ever have those weekends when you feel like you need an extra couple days just to rest?  That's exactly how my weekend felt.  However, I had some awesome quality time with my princess and some great friends.

We had a sweet sixteen birthday party to attend on Saturday and what seemed to be a million errands to run as well.  Before the party I wanted to try to recreate a picture I found on Pinterest (a.k.a. my newest addiction).  I think I did a pretty good job :)

I love her sooooooo much :)

{In the beginning...}

It's the beginning...and it's only just beginning.  I wanted to start a blog this year as a reflection piece of some sort.  I don't have a diary or journal but I would like to see my transformations along this crazy thing we call life.  So, I'm not exactly sure of the content I intend to offer...but it's completely me: unfiltered, no reservations, and sometimes a little silly =)