I was running some errands and I heard my favorite morning show on the radio. They were saying the Washington Post did an article that people are bragging about what deals they got instead of what riches they bought. It is a new definition to keeping up with Jones. Can you clip more coupons, save more money, what cool deal did you get? Also, do you judge those who spend money on Starbucks coffee instead of brewing it at home now or buying a QT coffee for $0.89 as opposed to $3.95 for a small at Starbucks.

I say buy it where you want it! I love starbucks but I am not a starbucks snob. I really want to try McDonald’s specialty coffee. My hubby said it was good.

I do clip coupons,  and I do search for deals. I recently got toothpaste for free because the store marked it down to a $1 and I had a dollar coupon off.  We dropped our grocery budget by a lot so we can pay down some debt and I am trying to be as frugal as possible. I found our laundry detergent and dryer sheets in larger quantities for cheaper price at Target. I will go to several stores in the area if it saves me money. Kroger is doing the best at having those awesome deals. Right now a bunch of items are 88 cents. You just cannot beat that!

I think some of this is funny because my friends and I have been sharing deals and tips for saving money for a long time.  My husband has also been brown bagging his lunch for many years, but to people who have suddenly found themselves in a tight spot,  you have to prioritize.

Here is the article from the Washington Post I was talking about.

I know they are so cute and look so good. They are sticky and gooey, and they are nasty. They are so sweet you go into a sugar coma with just one bite.

Now, give me a chocolate bunny or a Reeses peanut butter egg or a chocolate marshmellow egg and I am all over it.

My kids do not even like those nasty little chicks and bunnies. Sorry to all the peeps lovers but so far I have not found anyone who likes those sugary little treats!

When I first heard about this recall, I thought, “here we go again”. Remember a couple of years ago tainted peanut was recalled. It was from Georgia and it included jarred peanut butter. You would think the FDA, and Georgia agriculture people would have been tougher on these plants. It appears that Georgia inspectors did make note of the poor and unsanitary conditions of the plant such as mold, a leaking roof,  rats and cockroaches running around. This is unacceptable and all involved should be prosecuted.

500 plus people have been sickened and 8 people have died. This could have been us. My girls eat PBJ everyday. I eat it too. It is cheap and tastes yummy. This is a food that is equated with our great country. I usually buy store brand natural peanut butter for the girls but with the recall they are telling people to only buy brand name or at least our news station is. Jiff came out and said they have tested all jarred peanut buttter and it is safe. Therefore I bought a jar of Jiff and a jar of Smuckers natural. Smuckers produces Jiff. The one thing I cannot eat and will not eat is Reeses peanut butter cups. I see them everywhere yet they recalled reeses that are in cookies and ice cream so I would not even touch the candy. My girls love it but we bought something else for v-day. Anything with peanuts with the exception of jarred peanut butter I won’t touch either.

It is scary. I would say I would give it up all together but what would my girls eat. Lunch meat all the time is too expensive. I don’t know that more gov’t oversight is not the answer since we have that and it has failed. The ecoli scare last summer with spinach and tomatoes or peppers. They don’t even know what caused that scare and tomato farmers suffered for it.

I think the whole program needs to be overhauled. Tough prosecution maybe jail time along with stiffer fines for those knowingly selling tainted food. It is all about the bottom line. Had this not been about losing profits then they would have never sold tainted peanuts to Canada and shipped tainted peanut butter products all over the US. I got this story off of our local news  website here is a complete look at the recall and all that was found inside this plant. Ice cream is the new recall today. Check out the FDA website to get an updated list of recalled items.

Bottom Line we always pray over our food. I had food poisoning from Arby’s when I was 10 years old and I will never forget it. I was so ill I almost had to be hospitalized. Ever since then I pray, “Lord bless this food to the nourishment of our bodies and take all disease and bacteria out of it.” I would encourage you to pray over your food too. We cannot depend on state and federal gov’t to protect us.

In the acticle it has other articles on Girl Scout Cookies. They are not part of the recall. They do not get their peanut butter products from that plant and have tested all peanut butter products that go in their cookies and all are safe.

My husband wrote a really great post on the healthy lifestyle we are now on. I am at the very least 40 pounds overweight and my hubby as he writes says 80 pounds for him. We know these numbers because our doctor has said we both need to lose weight for our health. My father died at age 39 and I will be 32 this year. I want to live a long and happy life with my husband and girls. It is hard to give up those comfort foods and go for it but something clicked right after Christmas. It may be my already oversized clothes were getting tight or I was out of breath going up the stairs but something had to change. I want to be alive and energetic for me and my kids. Husband and I feel so much better.

This book was written by a doctor, Joel Fuhrman. I think the reason I like it so much is the recipes are economical. You can use ketchup or salsa things I can buy store brand to save money. Fruits and veggies can cost more but I have been searching the ads. This week Publix had the best deals and their stuff seems fresher to me. I guess it will even out because we are not buying all the snacks and junk we were buying. I still buy whole wheat pretzels for the girls and their organic cereal bars but no snack stuff for us. I also like this guy because he is not so rigid as other doctor’s books I have read.

You can still eat sweets if you desire but you set a splurge day instead of gourging on stuff all the time. Right now because we need to get the weight off and we have both been sick, we have taken a 30 day break from sweets. Husband and I have taken a break from sweets before. If you do go back and eat something sweet, it is actually gross. You should try it.

My body is now craving strawberries, grapes, clementines, broccolie, squash, spinach, brussel sprouts, and salads. My favorite thing to do is to steam all of our veggies in the Ziploc steam bags. I saw these on the biggest loser. What captured my attention was the fact they do not have the toxin BPA in them so it is safe to use. Husband fills one of these up with fresh veggies and takes it to work with him.

Here is my hubby’s post.

Ok Husband and I are really motivated to lose the weight this year. We started before the first of January and Husband has lost 9 lbs and I have lost 3. He is walking a mile everyday and I was walking until I got a double ear infection and sinus infection. Once I am feeling better it will back to the walking for me. I love it. We are eating mostly fruits and veggies. Lots of fresh fruits and veggies and walnuts (just a small handful a day) they have omega 3 fatty acids which are great nutrients for the brain and body. I have cut us down to read meat twice a month instead of several times a week and we have gotten rid of most of our snack items. I still buy pretzels and cereal bars for the girls but that is it. Fruits and veggies for them to snack on too. Even Pookie likes eating Walnuts in the morning with her cereal or oatmeal. 2009 is our year to be healthy and wise with our bodies.

Oh, yeah the real kicker is we are taking a 30 day break from sweets. A biggie for me the chocolate lover. It is hard but once you start putting the good things back into your body you really don’t crave those sugary snacks.

Today is bitterly cold with the wind and low temperature so I decided to make breakfast for dinner. I have biscuits, turkey bacon, hashbrowns, eggs and fruit. My girls love it when I cook breakfast at dinner time. It is a special treat once in a blue moon. I usually make pancakes but I thought I would do biscuits this time. I like the Pilsbury Hungry Jack flakey. They separate into flakey layers. Grands are ok but I like the smaller, flakier biscuit. My girls love turkey bacon and I love Eggland eggs. I buy the Simply Potato Hashbrowns. They are found near the bacon at Walmart. You just add oil and cook.

This is our Friday night. A nice quiet evening in our warm and comfy home. It will be a fairly quiet weekend so that everyone can get well before the holidays.

This is what my two year old wanted today for breakfast. She loves “faffles and berries”. She takes the rasberries and puts them on her fingers to make rasberry fingers. She loves them. She can eat her weight in rasberries, blueberries and strawberries. I buy the ego low fat waffles and she eats one of those without syrup. The low fat waffles are made with multigrains and have half the calories and fat of regular waffles. It also has more protein if I am not mistaken.

She has not discovered syrup like my older daughter so I keep her away from it as long as I can. She just now discovered ketchup for hotdogs and hamburgers. Pookie did not want syrup until a year ago and she is 6. We only put a tiny bit on her cut up waffles. Pookie will still eat them plain too. They do eat some sweets but I try to limit their intake of sugar as much as I can.

My six year old eats raw pumkin. Peanut used to eat it but does not care for it now. It is a great source of fiber. Pookie loves it!

I am a fan of their sweet tea for a dollar and their mcflurries. I don’t know what came over me today but I wanted McDonalds. So Stephen went out and got us something. My girls ate happy meals for the first time ever. I was not all that impressed with the happy meals. My girls usually get fruit cups or oranges etc. but they only had apple dippers possibly with yogurt or french fries. I definitely prefer Wendy’s burgers to McDonalds. I still love their sweet tea and I do like their fries. They also have the apple waldorf salad that is tasty. I am still thinking I cannot believe I let my kids eat McDonalds. My husband did inform me that the hamburgers are made with 100% beef and I pray that is true. I don’t think Hannah liked it either because she ate her bun and threw the patty across her tray. She is not a picky child but she is really picky with hamburgers. I guess she takes after me.

Finally, my girls can experience pudding. I found a soy pudding at wal-mart. I think it is organic. Pookie loves it. Both of my girls have dairy allergy/lactose issues. If they eat or drink milk, ice cream, yogurt or cheese they will get really sick or start screaming in pain with their stomachs. They both did this as early as a week after being born. It took us almost two months to figure out what was going on with Pookie and we knew right away with Peanut. They both took Alimentum formula which did not constipate as soy formula did. I discovered soy yogurts when Pookie was a toddler and now they have pudding. You have to watch the soy products though because the veggie cheese actually uses milk proteins which is what I think my girls have sensitivity too. I am just glad they are starting to offer alternatives. There are more and more people becoming intolerant to milk.

Homemade Mac and cheese:

Original recipe by Patti LaBelle and I added my own twist.

Ingredients:

1 lb of macaroni noodles
1 package of Colby jack cheese
1 package of sharp cheddar cheese
1 package of mild cheddar cheese
1 stick of butter
2 large eggs
2 cups of milk
1 tbs of oil
8 oz Velveeta cheese
Salt

The making of the Mac and cheese:

Preheat oven on 350*
Cook Mac noodles in olive oil or veggie oil
Drain noodles
Add butter, milk, eggs, salt and ½ the packages of cheeses including the Velveeta (cut into cubes) save a little for the top
Stir really well
Pour into baking dish 8X8 or larger

Top with remaining cheeses including Velveeta
Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown

Enjoy!