Paleoizing

 The Planning Behind Paleo

 The Grocery List:

        The most important thing in a successful paleo lifestyle is planning. I used OneNote to begin getting my meals organized. My first tab in my "Meal Plan" binder is called "Grocery List". Below I have posted my running grocery list. I created categories and items to best fit my family. I'll print one out each week and post it to the refrigerator. As the week goes on I'll highlight the things we are running out of and then on Friday I'll sit down and create a meal plan for the week. While I create my meal plan I'll highlight any additional items I need and add anything to the list that I don't already have. Then off to the grocery store! A few years ago I attended a Hearts at Home seminar where I learned to use this type of grocery list. It was part of a "Brain" binder, but that's for a later post. 

Hello Summer!!!

My classroom. August 2013. 

  Blogging World 
 I've been out of the blogging loop for while. A school year to be exact. Last summer I was hired for my first teaching position! It was a great first year. I taught English 8th grade. It was definitely difficult and I'm welcoming the summer break.  Next year I'll be teaching 6th grade English. To left you can see my very bare classroom. This summer I have a lot of teaching goals to implement for next year!

Summer Goals

1. Paleoize. We fell off the paleo way of living part way through the school year. I am working on paloizing my family as I type. As part of my paleoize, I am going to begin exercising by doing some small simple body movements at home. With a family of six it's to difficult and expensive to get out of the house for anything to crazy.

2. Organize. Not only did I stop blogging and living paleo throughout the school year but my life became very unorganized. I've already began some of the things I have in mind. Here's my list of organization goals.
-Clean out & reorganize all rooms
-Purchase filing cabinet and organize papers.  (I am not good at anything paper)
-Get rid of some toys.
-Organize Kitchen
-Get organized with meal planning
-Chores (I found a brilliant idea for this!)

3. Read. This summer I have several books I need to read in order to teach them next year. My oldest son has a summer reading assignment and the other boys need to read. Here's my list of books to read.
-Freak The Mighty
-The Book Thief (reading with my son)
-The House On Mango Street
-The Adventures of Tom Sawyer


I think three goals is a good number to focus on. Anything more may become overwhelming and counterproductive.

Our Wedding Anniversary Celebration

Pentwater, MI (7/14/07)

Yesterday was our 6th wedding anniversary. We have been together for 12 years this coming October. My husband and I don't typically make a big fuss over this event but this year was special for us both and I wanted to do something to celebrate. I knew I wanted it to be easy on the wallet and kid free. Where can one find such an idea? There's no other place than pintrest, of course!!!!

 

It didn't take me long to come across this blog. I chose her "For The Early Risers" idea. This was perfect for my husband and I because he is a morning person and our kids would all be sleeping. I arranged for grandpa to keep watch over the boys between 5:30 and 6:30 Sunday morning. 

She suggested making this adorable breakfast in a box. I really liked this idea but making things look pretty doesn't come easily for me. I improvised. I made Chocolate Chip Scones and Lemon Pudding. I put the scones in a small Ziploc bag and the pudding in a small Tupperware container. Then we each had a left over paper sack from sprouts to pack our breakfast in. My husband took care of the coffee and we drove down to the park for an early morning breakfast. The idea was to see the sun coming up but as luck would have it we saw lightning instead. Despite the weather we were able to enjoy a short and quiet date together.  It was perfect!



It is sooo HOT!!!

Today we hit 100 degrees and tomorrow we are expected to hit 104 degrees. I admit I do love the heat but triple digits are harsh! To break up my daily routine of water, I enjoy a cold glass of lemonade.

Healthy Lemonade

I found a recipe by Leanne Vogal at Healthful Pursuit called Healthy Lemonade. Who knew there was such a thing. I asked  my son Quinn to help me get out the ingredients we need to make lemonade. He began to list off the things we need to make it. You won't believe what he said....  "We need water and sugar powder".  WHAT??? Yes, he was referring to our old pre-paleo ways of making lemonade. Needless to say, he and I both know better now.

Recipe: Healthy Lemonade By Leanne Vogal

Prep time:  15 mins

Cook time:  3 hours

Total time:  3 hours 15 mins

Serves: 6

Refreshingly light and sugar-reduced lemonade recipe that has all the flavor, with less empty calories than conventional lemonade.

Ingredients

·         ½ cup coconut nectar or coconut sugar or xylitol or honey

·         1 cup water

·         1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (from approximately 6 lemons)

·         4 cups cold water

Instructions

1.     Add sugar and 1 cup water to a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently.

2.     Once boiled, remove from heat and add to a glass pitcher.

3.     Add lemon juice and remaining water.

4.     Place in the fridge for 2-3 hours to chill.

5.     Serve with ice cubes.

We used Texas Raw Honey as our sugar. How do you make lemonade? What other drinks have you come up with to substitute those old favorites?