Pizza Gift Basket Idea for Bridal/Wedding/Homewarming Gift

I have a bridal shower to go to this weekend and really wanted to make a DIY gift from some of the ideas that I have been saving on Pinterest. I just don't feel that I have the time to with all the cleaning I need to do and homework. I decided to pick out something within my budget from the registry and try to come up with a theme to make a "basket" (in quotes because the gift isn't really in a basket). The bride had registered for a nice pizza pan and a cool pizza cutter that you rock back and forth to cut the pizza like in a pizzeria.

All of the items

I then decided to make it a "basket" by finding some things at the Dollar Tree that she could use to make a pizza. I ended up having to go to the grocery store for the pop and crust mix, but I got them for 99 cents a piece!

My $1 items: pepperoni, pizza sauce, Parmesan cheese, crushed red pepper flakes, pop, pizza crust mix, and an oven mitt.

I first figured out how to arrange the items on the pizza pan so you could still see a little bit of each item.

Ta-Dah!

I used a plastic "gift wrap" bag from the Dollar Tree to wrap it up. Since the bag is a rectangle and my gift was round, I taped the edges under on the bottom. No one will see that since the gift is heavy and the pan needs to stay down when picking it up. I had the cute green curly bow already.

The final gift

I had a little mishap with the card (which I also got at the Dollar Tree). I had the envelope for the card around the card in the bag bringing it home. Somehow some of the glue from the envelope stuck to my card. I couldn't get it completely off and didn't want to buy a new card. I found a couple of stickers and just randomly put them on the card. It works.

When shopping at the Dollar Tree, I found a little something for myself. I know, I shouldn't have, right? ;) It is a mat to put under your dishes while you let them air dry. I usually put the towel underneath, but then need it to wipe off some of the dishes as I put them away. That dilemma is gone now!

Back to Basics Challenge: Improving Spaces

This week in the Back to Basics Challenge, we were supposed to "clean up" two or three spaces to help us on our weight loss journey. You can read more about it here. I decided to clean up my little kitchen space in my office at work and my kitchen at home. I do have plans for a workout area in my basement, but I might run out of time to set that up this weekend.
 
I am a teacher, so I spend a lot of time in my classroom and am lucky enough to have my own office. All I need is a bathroom and I would never have to leave! (Although seeing and interacting with other adults once in a while is nice.) Anyway, I have a microwave and a mini fridge along with some cupboard space above the fridge. I looked at expiration dates and threw out expired items. I also organized things so it was easy to get to what I use the most. I decided to bring my own real plates and silverware from home instead of reheating items in plastic containers (not good for you) or paper plates (wasteful).

Inside the mini fridge. Lunch is in the bag, flavored water in the stainless steel water bottle, and snacks in the door.

 

This is the cabinet above the fridge. The things I use the most or are for me are on the bottom shelf. The top shelf has some leftover plates, cups, baggies, and treats for the students.

I have a set of jars with glass beads at home to visually track my weight loss and decided to make a set for work too. I have a problem with emotional eating, so I often eat when stressed. Although I love my job, we all experience stress at work. Combine that with the ability to sit in front of your computer on plan period and eat with no on seeing you is not so good.

 

 

The second place I tackled was my kitchen at home. I already got rid of all the unhealthy stuff except for what is my husband's. He doesn't keep much in the house since he eats out a lot, but does have some unhealthy snacks such as cookies and candy. I have learned to just ignore his stuff and not even touch it. The big problem in my kitchen is the lack of storage space and how everything somehow became a big, jumbled up mess. I organized dishes, spices, appliances, and food. Here are the end results:

 

Everyday dishes are organized.

Moved the pots above the stove along with olive oil and cooking spray.

Spices and less used items on the top shelf.

What I call my husband's pantry space. You can see how little he keeps around and the Goldfish crackers and candy is sitting out.

My cabinet with my snacks, drinks, etc.

Two shelves have dog stuff and one shelf has my vitamins and oatmeal.

Big pans and appliances. It is really sad that my fancy, expensive food steamer is still in packaging. Got to use it one of these days. Also, don't judge me by my crock pot. I got it at a garage sale for $4 and plan on spray painting it a cute color.

I moved the pans to a drawer hoping it would make things easier.

All my measuring cups in a drawer with other odds and ends.

The fridge was clean already.

 

 



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.

August + Back to Basics Challenge

I know it has been a long while since the last post. The two grad classes I took as summer sessions took over my whole July. I learned a lot, enjoyed them, and also got A's, but man were they draining. I had three weeks left after my last class until work and grad school started again, so I felt like I had no summer. I spent the last week before work school running around trying to get some things in order in my classroom. I still have things I want to work on, but the classroom is looking pretty good. So that was the end of my summer break in a nutshell.

Work school and grad school have been in session for about two weeks now. I'm starting to have a routine going, so I feel it is a great time to start getting back on track with healthy eating, working out, and blogging. I have been either not following my plan or very wishy-washy since the end of April. That is when I had a group project for one of my grad school classes that was extremely stressful along with my spring music program at work. And I also ended up in a boot due to my Achilles tendon injury acting up again. It sucks that all that happened at once, but I should not have used it as an excuse to eat whatever I want and not exercise. This summer I was bound to get on track and let the stress of summer classes take over. The most I lost all summer was 3 pounds. When I weighed in at the beginning of the school year, I lost only 1 pound over summer break. I have lost another pound since school began. Things come up all the time, and I have to be more determined to not get off track and find better strategies for dealing with stress.

I found a challenge through a blog that I read that is called "Back to Basics." That is exactly what I need right now. You can find out about this challenge here. I tried using the "Lose It!" website this summer when I was tracking my food. It is a great website, but I am no longer going to use it. I want to get "back to the basics" of what was working for me when I lost that 35 pounds. And tracking calories was not what I was doing. I instead took pictures of what I ate and posted them on here. I would like to start doing that again along with some kind of weekly progress (weigh in, measurements, pics, non-scale victories...) I would also like to get in some kind of extra movement or exercise at least 3 days a week, if not more. This is how I started my successful weigh loss of 35 pounds and I am going to try it that way again.

I am also challenging myself when it comes to spending and money. There were a lot of expenses in August, so I would like to keep myself more accountable and stick to things that are truly necessary in September. The first part of this strategy is planning out my meals for the month. Second I made a huge list of groceries, toiletries, household items, etc. that we should need throughout the month. I am making one big shopping trip to get this items. This means I should only have to go out once a week on a small trip to buy fresh ingredients and my husband's staples of milk and break and bake cookies (the joys of being skinny and eating what you want...). This should give me more time on the weekends to read and study for my one class I  am taking this semester. I'm taking only one class because of all the changes at work, but it is a way to spend less money a month and make more time for healthy living.

Now that you are caught up with my August, you should be seeing many more posts this month!

Fourth of July 2013 + Some Healthy Eats

I'm here with a Fourth of July recap and to share some of the healthier things I've been eating recently. Let's start with the Fourth of July...

I spent most of the daytime doing fun activities like working on homework, doing the dishes, working on homework, mowing the yard, working on homework, doing some laundry, and oh yeah, working on homework. I didn't realize how much work summer classes are. I guess I'll know for next time! And while Sebastion is cute, he was not much of a help with the homework...

The hubs and I grilled out for dinner. We made chicken kebabs with onion and green pepper. Our side dish was potatoes with onion which were grilled in a foil packet with some olive oil, seasoned salt, and pepper. It was healthy and on plan.

After dinner I did a little more work for grad school. Then we went to my father-in-law's house to shoot off fireworks. He lives on a cul-de-sac which is convenient for that kind of thing. I don't mind watching fireworks, but I'm really not into buying them and setting them off. This year I actually found one that I wanted to buy and actually set off myself. It is called "Frog Princess" and it is pink. Enough said!

It was a fountain that had some pink in it which was cool.

When I picked it up the hubs said I could get the Frog Prince too. Both of them have eyes and mouths which light up and flicker. They are definitely cute.

To be completely honest, I've been trying to follow that super aggressive plan this week. I've had some great days and some not so great days. My downfalls are cravings of chocolate (specifically Kit Kats) and Egg McMuffins. I've also done some great things like sit through cravings without eating them and finding other alternatives to snack on. Here are some of the healthier things I've eaten this week so far:

Homemade Dishwashing Detergent

After seeing how easy it was to make my own laundry detergent, I thought I would try making my own dishwashing detergent for the dishwasher. There are many recipes out there, but I wanted one without Borax for this time around. The recipe I used is from this website. If you are wondering how I got to this website, I found it on Pinterest. I'm so excited that I'm finally using some of these wonderful ideas I'm getting on there.

Here is the recipe:

• 1 and 1/2 cups of Lemi-Shine
• 1 and 1/2 cups of Super Washing Soda
• 1/2 cup of Baking Soda
• 1/2 cup of Sea Salt

To make this: Mix all the ingredients together and use one tablespoon per load. Cute old-fashioned looking jar is optional. I found it at the Dollar Tree though which is the right price!

Disclaimer: My dishwasher soap turned into a hard rock. You really need a desiccant to keep it from clumping. If you have a new item that has one of those little packs of Silica Gel, save it and use it for this purpose. If not, you can search online to make your own. I eventually found a purse that had a packet in it after my stuff turned into a rock.

Even though mine is hardened, I just take a spoon and chip some off as I need it. It works great and my dishes are nice and clean.

Since I've been dying to use chalkboard spray paint for something, I made a label for the jar using contact paper.