September Shopping Trip + Meal Prep

I used my strategy of one big shopping trip this weekend to get most of what I knew (or predicted) we needed this month. Most of the shopping trip was my groceries for the meals I planned for this month. The following is my haul:

Cleaning supplies

Toiletries

Whole Grains for all my meals- freezer helps with buying ahead.

Jar, canned, shelf stable foods

Boxed goods

Meats and proteins

Dairy and other refrigerated food

The fresh foods I needed and then cooked the wrong recipe. Ooops!

Since it is Labor Day, I decided to do my food prep for the week today instead of Sunday. I baked some egg whites for homemade Egg McMuffins,

I know they don't look the best, but I accidentally forgot to spray the pan I was baking them in and the bottoms burned a bit.

made a chicken bake with salsa and multi grain tortilla chips,

It is chicken breasts, salsa, and multi grain tortilla chips.

baked some protein cookies for snacks,

and made single servings of some other snacks.

I also weighed in for the beginning of my Back to Basics Challenge. I'm currently at 207 and would love to get down under 200 by the end of the month. If not, losing anything will be great compared to the one pound loss over the past few months. I'm trying not to weigh everyday, so I'll do a weekly weigh in for this challenge.

I know I am supposed to be challenging myself to not spend money on unnecessary items, but I did find a couple of things on clearance while out this weekend. Here are the finds:

A Wal-Mart find for $5.

Running skirt with shorts underneath for $3.75.

Shorts for $2.25.

I did not buy this, but it has been in the back of my closet all summer. It finally looks good enough that I could wear it.

My Four Day Fall Break Weekend of 2012

I had Friday and Monday off, so last weekend was a four day weekend. I was much busier than I thought that I would be, but it was still a lot of fun.

Friday I went out to eat at Olive Garden with some friends from work. I didn't know about taking pictures for the blog in front of them, so I didn't. I got the soup, salad, and bread sticks which was a mostly healthy and very filling meal. Afterwards we went to the mall and did some shopping. Well everyone in the group except me bought something. It was fun to hang out and see them buy stuff, but I just don't have the money to buy frivolous stuff right now. It really shocked me to see how much money people are willing to pay for things. I would rather have savings and investments. I guess that makes me a "weird girl" which I kinda already knew that I was!

What I wore out with my friends on Friday.

The black painted stripes are starting to wear off, but I love these earrings!

Saturday was spent running some errands, doing a little cleaning around the house, and having fun with my St. Joe friends at a Halloween party that night. One of my friends has a house in Rensselaer (which is were St. Joe is and that makes a halfway point from my house and Lafayette) with the perfect yard to throw a party. In the back yard there is a small "shack" or "shed" with a kitchen in it and an an open space on the other side which has a booth, tables, chairs, and just enough room for a TV and karaoke machine. There was tons of tasty foods and drinks such as chili, sandwiches with apple butter, chips, dips, desserts, a punch with a "brain" in it, and mixed drinks with fun names such as purple people eater.

Our entertainment was a scavenger hunt, a costume contest, and karaoke. My costume didn't turn out like I planned, because my pink flared jeans were too tight to wear and I couldn't get my pink feathers to stay in my hair. That would've made my hippie costume be more costume-y and less like a modern day hippie wannabe. Oh well, I've already got an idea for next year as long as I lose some weight!

Sunday I spent getting some organization and cleaning done around the house. I went through all the stuff I took out of the linen closet in the bathroom and either reorganized back into the linen closet or tossed it because I didn't need/want it anymore.

I finally picked up the guest bedroom and reorganized my "motivation" closet.

I also got rid of clothes in my "everyday" closet that didn't make me feel or look good. I don't have much left that fits now, so I really need to get back on track this week now that my stress is lightening up.

Monday was spent running errands, doing more cleaning around the house, and getting ready for the workweek. I first went out to Wanatah to my parents house to pick up some of my old "bigger" pants from my sister that she didn't need right now. How embarrassing to gain back enough weight to ask for your bigger clothes you gave away back. Now if that isn't motivation, I don't know what is! Anyway, I felt like taking pictures so here are some pictures from my drive out there:

There are lots of farm and country pictures. I grew up in the country and am kinda starting to feel like more like a "town person." I still miss the country though.

This picture and the one below are the Porter County Fairgrounds. I was a nine year 4-Her and am kinda missing it. I think it would be fun to be a group leader.

This is a doggie spa I passed on the way to Valpo. I bet my dogs would love to run free in there!

I stopped to see if there was anything interesting, but I took a picture and included it to share a little fact. I used to work at this Wal-Mart for about six months after I graduated college.

This isn't a good picture, but that car in the distance is awesome!

That afternoon I had a dentist appointment for a check-up and cleaning. Everything is okay this time which is nice.

Clean teeth before I eat and ruin it. They used key lime flavor to clean my teeth which was tasty yet kinda weird.

I spent the evening cooking some food for healthy lunches, watching The Voice, and typing up lesson plans. Here is to a fresh start on eating well this week!

Wedding Weekend

This weekend has been a busy one, so here is the weekend recap...

Friday was a crazy day at work. There were lots of interruptions in the morning and a smelly situation. I'll just leave it at that. I was kind of in a goofy kind of mood too which probably helped me get through the day. Nothing like a joke and a laugh to get through anything. I came home and vegetated in front of the TV watching multiple episodes of  "Yes to the Dress." I don't care that I've been married for five years, it is still fun to look at wedding dresses! A friend of ours (the hubs and I) from out of town stopped by and chatted with us for a couple of hours which was a good way to end the workweek.

On Saturday I went to the wedding of a friend of mine from high school. We had fallen out of touch and recently been talking on Facebook. She sent me an invite, so I went. I'm really glad that I went and we have reconnected. The wedding took place in a town called Bunker Hill which was a 2 hour and 30 minute drive from my house. I went alone which made the drive pretty boring, but I did snap a few pictures on the way there (on the way back it was dark so I didn't take any).

All dressed up and ready to go.

Some fall scenery.

I drove through a lot of country and got quite a few photos. They kind of remind me of the small town in which I grew up.

This is supposed to be a lake that the small country highway I was on goes through, but it must have been hit hard by the drought this summer.

I was behind a horse trailer for quite a way too.

This must be the most empty split four lane highway I have ever seen.

More farm scenes- this time a combine harvesting.

Some more fall leaves.

I got lost but got there in the nick of time before the ceremony started. It was a nice day for a wedding minus the wind and colder temperature (it was outdoors). I don't know how the bridesmaids and bride made it through with no sleeves or shawls, but they did. The reception was also outside, but in a tent with heaters spread throughout. I was supposed to sit by a friend from high school, but she was unable to make it. The only other people at my table that showed up were a couple that were friends of the bride's from college. I didn't know them, but we were able to make some small talk. I got to talk to my friend's mom, dad, and aunts. In high school we were really close friends and we both did a lot of stuff with each other's families, so it was nice to see and talk to them again.

I'm very proud to say that I didn't overindulge myself in food. The dinner was served buffet style, but I only went once and got very reasonable sized amounts of food. I had a dinner roll, mixed veggies, mashed potatoes, and chicken noodles. I was going to have a piece of cake, but didn't because the favor was a Clark bar (their last name is Clark). I decided to eat the Clark bar on the way home for a sugar rush. I also had a diet Coke and stopped in Rensselaer for gas and a Clif bar.

The cake that I passed up. It was pumpkin and I love pumpkin!

The favor I ate on the way home.

Sunday was spent shopping (nothing frivolous) and at work. I started my day off by getting a birthday present for my niece's 3rd birthday party which is next weekend. I got her some boots as the main part of her present. I also got her some princess dress up toys and pink hangers for her closet.

I can't believe how stylish shoes are for toddlers now!

Fun, pink, and girly!

I also went shopping to find a Halloween present for the hubs. Halloween is his favorite holiday and I usually get him a piece from a Halloween village collection. Menard's had a sale on the one he wanted, so I got him the Wicked Windmill from Spooky Town. He was very excited for his present!

The new one.

All of his Halloween toys. They are pretty neat when it is dark and they are all lit up.

After shopping I went into work to try to finish my bulletin boards, backdrop for the program, and my lesson plans for this week.

My new hallway bulletin board for fall.

More fall decor.

The left side of my backdrop for the program.

The middle of my backdrop for the program. I'm going to add words that say "We're Making Music" since that is the name of the revue where I got the songs from.

The right side of my backdrop for the program.

I know I didn't talk much about food or exercise, but I think I did pretty good for a weekend. I did eat out a few times such as an Egg McMuffin meal once for breakfast and a bean burrito from Taco Bell for lunch on Sunday. I also didn't get much exercise in, but walked a lot on Sunday. Saturday I failed to reach 8,000 steps. I was in a car for about five hours of the day and I lost my pedometer (and later found it) at the wedding. I guess I won't have a chance to win a prize this time around. Oh well...