Monday, July 26, 2010

Eating Healthy in a flash and on a budget

   As a work at home mom to three I fall all too quickly into the trap of eating out.  It's easy, it's not cheap and even with some healthy choices availaible it's still many times full of fat and calories and lacking vegetables. 

   School starts for us in just a few weeks, along with football, cheerleading, and swimming.  I work evenings so have to rely on my husband to make dinner.  That usually means that they are eating out or pulling something containing processed meat out of the freezer. And for me spending 8-10 hours a day sitting in front of a computer working hasn't helped my weight any.  I have looked at the convient yet expensive weight loss  food options for myself from nurtisystem and jenny craig, and typically have a freezer stocked with Weight Watchers and Lean Cuisine frozen meals.  They are all low in fat and calories as well as just about every nutrient you need.  They are big in cardboardand price though! 

    So I was looking for an alternative, something to give my family the convience and nutrients that they need and me the natural weight loss that I want.   What better way to control what your family eats then by controlling how it's made?

   
     I can spend 2 1/2 hours  every saturday evening or sunday afternoon  making healthy and convient family dinners that will last the entire week, stock up and have extras for the month.  I pre-potion everything into either family sized dinners or individuals meals for lunchs and i know exactly whats going in them.





 Look at some comparisons: between the Easy Does-It meals and those store bought frozen diet entrees



 Healthy Choice® Sweet and Sour Chicken..........$2.99


Easy-Does-It Sweet and Sour Chicken.................$1.21



Healthy Choice® Country Herb Chicken.............$2.99

Easy-Does-It Country Herb Chicken...................$1.11



Stouffer’s Lean Cuisine® Chicken & Vegetables $3.49

Easy-Does-It Chicken & Vegetables.....................$1.02



Stouffer’s Lean Cuisine® Honey Roasted Pork  $3.49

Easy-Does-It Honey Roasted Pork...................$1.02

Tthe easy Does-It cookbook's creator stands by the cookbook








Friday, July 9, 2010

Saving Money with Back to School!

     It's that time already!   While many of us still have a month or more before our children go back to school it's time to start watching sale ads for some truly money saving discounts!   Here are some upcoming deals:
Staples 7/11-7/17
2 pocket folder with fasteners 1 CENT (with additional $5 purchase) (7/11-7/14 ONLY)
Pencils- 8 pack yellow #2 1 CENT (with additional $5 purchase)(7/11-7/14 ONLY)
Quartet 8 1/2 by 11 dry erase board with marker/eraser $1
(there are other items in the sale ad that you can view here buy I believe they will be on sale cheaper)

     Walmart has started putting their school supplies on sale as well, prices will vary by store.  But don't be afraid to look elsewhere!  If you have a Meijer near you, last year crayons, glue, markers, pencil boxes, and more were all 10-19 cents a piece!  I haven't been able to see if it's started yet, but keep your eye out when you are shopping as the deals are starting!

     With the many discounts available on supplies, Clothes are obviously the largest expense.   The good news is that NOW you can stock up on clothes to finish out the warmer weather as stores are making room for their fall merchandise.   If you have outlet stores nearby this is the perfect time.  OshKosh currently has graphic tees buy 1 get 2 free.   Watch Justice for girls for their 40% off sales, and keep an eye on the clearance racks where ever you go.

    Another way to save on clothes is Ebay or craigslist where you can get a good deal, but a new site I have discovered is http://www.thredup.com Clothes are sent in amounts to fill a medium priority mail box.   The items are described thoroughly on the website and users have ratings so you can get feedback on the quality of clothes they send.  Unlike Ebay there are no pictures of the item so it adds a little excitement to it.  There is a flat fee of $13 per box that you pic that goes to ThredUp to cover shipping and website costs.   There is no cost to list or ship a box!  And you can earn free money in your ThredUp account by listing boxes of clothes that the website has a low supply on.  Keep an eye on the low supply list it changes often!  Please join me on ThredUp and help this new site grow! 
   It's also a great time to be watching yard sales for wonderful deals on kids clothing and books to add to your home library as well!
   I will try to keep up with the newest deals as they come out, but being a busy mom it doesn't always happen as fast as I would like so please help other moms by posting your tips and deals below!