Less Gluten Journey w/ Meal Plan

Living a Less Gluten lifestyle can be very costly, just like eating organic or doing any other kind of elimination diet. Add to that wanting to lose weight, things can get out of control with the FOOD BUDGET!! Because I like knowing what is in my food, and saving money, I was already making a lot of foods from scratch, even before we were consuming less gluten. In some areas we did find however, that it was just worth it to purchase the premade item. For example, flour tortillas; we made those from scratch, and even though it was easy, it was a little tedious in the process, and so we decided to just buy them.

Now that we are a Less Gluten family, there are some things that we have found are just plain out expensive to buy!! Coincidentally, GF tortillas may actually be worth making now. Other things we are considering are crackers, GF all purpose flour mixes, muffin mixes, bisquick mixes, and more. I can’t justify spending $5 for a small box of crackers, which we use almost every day for lunch as our sandwich alternative, or $5 for a tiny box of bisquick mix.

I will say that I am very fortunate to live 20 minutes away from Bob’s Red Mill, and their bulk section for GF mixes and baking goods is phenomenal. I relish getting great prices on GF oats, cream of rice, Xanthan gum, Sorghum, and so much more. I will try to share things that we are making regularly, and if it helps even one person, I will be satisfied. Here’s a list of recipes that we made this week, which I have been enlisting the help of my kids on:

Gluten Free All Purpose Flour: http://glutenfreegirl.com/2012/07/how-to-make-a-gluten-free-all-purpose-flour-mix/

GF Bisquick Mix: http://glutenfreerecipebox.com/gluten-free-bisquick-recipe/

GF Crackers, we used a seasoning salt like salad elegance, but I think next time I will just make up my own, because I wasn’t too excited about the ingredients in it: http://theprettybee.com/2013/10/easy-gluten-free-cracker-recipe.html

Lastly, I have a favorite website that I used previously for helping me meal plan, and she keeps her meals pretty healthy and they eat a good variety, which is very important to me. I was kind of bummed to have to stop using her website for meals, and then it me, “Why don’t I use her meal ideas, and just make them GF!!” Duh, right? So, here is the link to this week’s meal plan, and then I will put the links to the GF alternatives we’re doing (We don’t necessarily do the meals on their corresponding days, but I will put them on here that way to keep it simple): Grocerybudget101.com: http://www.grocerybudget101.com/content.php/777-2014-50-Budget-Menu-Plan-Week-14

Breakfasts: We’ll do GF cereal, cream of rice, buckwheat oatmeal;I didn’t do fruit Kabobs, but I did cut up the fruits and put them in containers for lunches and breakfasts this week. Instead of muffins, I’m making cupcakes :-/ I just want some pre-portioned sweets ☺: http://theprettybee.com/2013/10/easiest-gluten-free-vegan-chocolate-cake.html

Monday: Stays the same
Tuesday: For dinner I am doing this recipe with GF noodles: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Greek-Chicken-Pasta/Detail.aspx?evt19=1
Wednesday: For lunch, we’ll do the egg salad on the homemade GF crackers
Thursday: For BLT’s we’ll probably do this as a lettuce wrap
For dinner, I am doing a pulled pork roast, so this meat will probably get used in the tacos with cut up napa cabbage, lime, and cilantro
Friday: Stays the same
Saturday: For lunch, I found this recipe, and I think we will just make the dip and have chips, red bell pepper, and celery to eat this with: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/guy-fieri/artichoke-spinach-dip-with-roasted-red-bell-peppers-recipe.html For Dinner, I am making the given recipe with GF noodles
Sunday: For dinner, I will use my cooked pork for the given recipe.

Snacks: We usually have popcorn, fruit, and veggies on hand. I am going to start experimenting with the GF oats using the given recipe for granola bars, and can’t wait to have some great options there.

Well, I hope this is helpful for someone. Please leave me a comment or ask any questions. I love getting feedback. Thanks for stopping by!!

M&B's Babysitting Club Part 3

Ok, I have figured some of the things out from my last post. First being, we decided to change the name slightly, so we won't have copyright issues. M&B's Babysitting Club has arrived. There were a lot of ideas to process, and normally I wouldn't have started, due to being overwhelmed with the idea of what this could become. It has helped that I have had the opportunity to not only talk with families that would hire a babysitter, but I have also been able to talk to the mom’s of the babysitters themselves. It has been a very intriguing process, and a challenge to know how to care for both sides. 

So far I have been dealing with both families I already know and girls I know and trust. I am starting to see this grow, and am being very cautious with it. I don’t want to make a bad recommendation, and have it blow up in my face. I am already seeing that there are guidelines I want in place to help everyone use their best judgment in specific cases.

 Anyways, here are some of the decisions I made about the club itself, after deliberation and input. I will address each thought that I had in my last post, so you can see what I decided on each one:

 1) Application Process: I did a very vague application process with the girls I am using as of right now, because I know and trust each of them. However, I have asked them to feel free to invite friends to the club, and with these gals I will be putting them through a more thorough application, which will include a place to put references (I will post the application when it is finished).

 2) Introductions of the girls: I am still unsure how I am going to introduce each girl to the parent group, but will come up with that soon. I originally wanted to do a video with their mom’s introducing them, but that could get very time consuming, so I’m thinking about a way to allow them to put together some kind of a profile that I could keep in my Dropbox, which I could send out to parents as needed.

 3) Facebook Group: I did set up a separate Facebook group, where the girls can get information, ask questions, and just get overall communication from me. I am also glad I set this up, because last night in our first meeting, we were unable to cover everything, this way I can include additional training throughout the month, and I can post videos I would like them to watch, such as the Super Nanny Time Out Technique, etc.

 4) I am switching 4 & 5: 5) Monthly Meetings: I am definitely doing monthly meetings. In fact, I did my first one last night, and it was a blast!! This will be my typical format for it: a. Time for the girls to share babysitting stories b. Teaching about monthly topic c. Activity d. Questions & Comments time It is my goal to provide an environment where the girls can share with one another, get input, care, mentorship from older and more experienced girls, as well as receive continual training so they are on the cutting edge of the babysitting world.

 5) 4) Logistics: I created tiers of babysitters, because every girl is different in their babysitting experience, and with what they are comfortable with. This is good for both sides; it doesn’t put the babysitter in a position that she doesn’t know how to handle, and families can be assured that they get the best babysitter for the job with the best rates. I think I will probably put a tier rating on the babysitting jobs themselves as well, so the girls can accept a job, and know that this job requires a lesser rate. I will have to relook at that. In fact, I may completely change it to just a job rating system, and know which girls can handle which situations.

The process for hiring will be: I get the request for a babysitter, I send out a text to all qualified girls, they answer back as quickly as possible with their availability, I call the available babysitter with details to make sure the job is a good fit, then I call parent for same reason, and give parent the girl's phone number. They deal with it from there.

 6) Dues: The girls are paying monthly dues. But I am keeping it very cost effective, just having it pay for the cost of material in buying craft kit items, and refreshments. Obviously, the price for the CPR class will be a bit more, but I will be trying to keep that within reason as well.

There you have it. I can't wait to tell you how I have moved forward. I will try to get to it ASAP, but I have been busy actually implementing what I am talking about, so I haven't been as consistent with writing about it :-)

Babysitter's Club Part 2

Well, we made our official announcement; the Babysitter’s Club is a go!! We’ll have to come up with a name for it, so we’re not getting hit with any kind of copyright infringement.

We are starting from the ground up, so make sure to stay tuned to see how we build it. I have yet to figure out all the nuts and bolts of how we are going to run our babysitter’s club, but I definitely have some ideas.

First, we started with a series of videos that my daughter and I made both for the families and the babysitters. Here is the first one. I also have a form I created specifically with the Family Information, which you can see here, so that babysitters have as much information as possible, hopefully insuring a successful babysitting job, and the kids staying safe in their care. Some thoughts I have:

1) Have an application for both the families and the babysitters. Nothing too crazy, just so that we have as much info as possible. We’re keeping this to our local area, so for the most part, we’ll be dealing with people we know already.

2) Introduce each new babysitter with a video introduction. I think having the girl’s mom introduce her would be really cool. Something I really want to do is show that these girls are kids too, so that hopefully parents that are looking for babysitters can hopefully realize that this could one day be their little girl.

3) I will probably set up a separate page for the girls, where they can get information about our once/month meeting, post questions, concerns, etc, but I will have all the girls and perhaps even their moms in the parent group.

4) Logistics: I think I will have parents put their requests on the parent group page, and then I will send that off to the girls’ page, where they can respond if they are available. I am still trying to decide if this should be a first come, first serve scenario, but I will have to see how that goes.

5) Monthly meetings: I am contemplating having monthly dues to help cover materials. I want to create a monthly craft, offer training, I am even looking to set-up a CPR class for the girls (this would be at a separate cost though), and probably even mentorship through this meeting time. The only way I can think to cover those costs is to have monthly dues.

6) I am also contemplating a monthly dues or subscription for the parents. I haven’t decided here though. I know I am offering a very important service, and I could keep the fee very low, but I’m not sure that I want to take it that way for now. I suppose if I start doing more, and it grows, I may need to. I guess we’ll see.

Anyways, like I said, I don’t have everything figured out yet. I will cross that bridge when I get there.

Babysitter's Club Part 1

Here is a video to go with my blog post: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wl_74tXmfww

I am feeling quite nostalgic right now. I remember reading the Babysitter’s Club books and thinking how smart, organized and fun those girls were; wishing that I could start my own club like that. Well, I finally get to do it.

This stemmed from a need; the ability to feel comfortable referring a babysitter to a family, and vice versa, feeling equally comfortable with recommending a family to a babysitter. Now that I have the babysitter, and am not just looking for one for my own children, it has brought a completely different side of the coin to light. I don’t want to refer anyone, on either side-babysitter or family without knowing that it is going to be a good situation. There’s just too much at stake!!

So, I am going to keep this pretty simple. I will let you guys know how I’m going to run it soon. But I do know a couple of things that me and B are going to do: 1) We’re going to plan a once a month meeting with training, crafts that they can do with kids, and a chance to talk with their friends specifically about what did and didn’t work; 2) B and I are going to do a video series both to families and to babysitters with information and tips for both sides.

I am sharing this, to communicate what we are doing with B’s clients, so they can feel very comfortable with whom I refer, but also for my viewers. Perhaps you can start one as well. If you have noticed that there is a need in your area, this could be a great outreach and opportunity for fellowship and networking. Whether you have a teenager in your life you are trying to help, or you have children you need a good list of babysitters for, this could be a great option for either scenario.

Live your Life: Quick Cleaning Routine, so you can enjoy your LIFE!!

Ha!! I was playing a game with my kids and a dear friend called Truth Be Told.  You pull a card and everyone has to guess which response YOU wrote. So, I got a card that said, “Truth Be Told, on a Saturday morning I mostly look forward to…” The responses everyone put were sleep (yes, but my body really only lets me sleep until about 9am anymore anyways), budgeting (ok. I actually wrote this one. I know, budgeting? I can’t help it, whether it’s our budget or someone else’s that I am helping out with, I really love budgeting, and often times wake up with my best ideas on Saturday mornings for budgets. LOL), getting coffee (this one is good, and since I have Alex with me on Saturday mornings, I really do enjoy our Saturday mornings at Starbucks). But here’s the kicker, and the point of this entire pose. One of them said CLEANING!!! I mean really?

I remember when my son was little, he also told me that he thought I loved to clean. Now to be fair to them, I usually do have us doing some cleaning and projects around the house on Saturdays, because that’s the best day to get things done. 

IT IS true that I enjoy a clean house. I am definitely not OCD about it though. Anyone who has visited could attest to that. We usually have tools out for projects and craft projects that are being worked on linger for a couple of weeks. I find that I can focus better when my house is clean. It gives me a serene feeling when I can sit on my cozy couch, sip my coffee, and enjoy my surroundings.

But to think that I LOVE cleaning, they’re crazy!!! No, I like the result. Anyways, I have recently completely revamped my weekly routine to help me with having a clean home, with little effort, and I thought I would share. It actually came from this episode of Deals on the Live Well Network, but I have tweaked it to fit our lifestyle, getting a little cleaning done through out our normal routines, and then doing a focused task each evening after work.

Daily:
Wash Dishes: Everyone in my household now does their own dishes rather than letting them pile up in the sink. If the dishwasher is dirty, they put them in there, if it’s clean then they wash them by hand and put them on the towel to air dry. I wash all the dishes from breakfast, lunch and dinner right away every day, and they go on the towel to air dry. I do try to have the dishwasher emptied, and hand washables put away every day. The kids do this.

Wipe Counters

Shine Sink: (this is a FLYLADY step)

Put things where they belong: This is probably the most difficult for all of us. We’re used to bad habits of  coming in and putting things on the table, leaving shoes everywhere, or leaving bathroom laundry on the floor.

Make Bed: I already do this, as I like my bed to be made, but I do need to get my kids in this habit.

Mail: Mike says to put mail somewhere till you process it later. I process my mail daily. It’s just a habit I’m in.  It takes 2 seconds.  I put things to be filed in one place, and have my shredder right next to that.  Then it's just a matter of putting the envelopes in the recycling bin.

Spray Shower & Squigee: Mike didn’t include this, but I made this homemade shower daily spray, because I don’t want to have to scrub the shower too often…yeah I’m lazy that way!!


Weekly:
MONDAY: Kitchen Day. I am completely following the show on this, cleaning out my refrigerator for snacks or lunches, and just cleaning.

TUESDAY: Bathroom day. I tend to do a quick wipe down every day anyways as soon as I’m done with my morning routine, so this will just be deep cleaning stuff for me.

WEDNESDAY: Laundry day. I am going to follow the show on this too. My kids do their own laundry, so it’s really just mine, Alex’s and any house laundry, such as kitchen towels, bathroom towels, etc. Doing it every week all the way through- meaning clean, fold and actually putting it away- should really help to keep the pile from getting out of control.

THURSDAY: Paper Day. This is the day for me to make sure the budget is written out for the next month, write any checks, file, reconcile my checkbook registry, clean out my e-mail queue on my computer (I do this regularly on my phone, but ignore my computer), and making sure there are no major paper piles around the house.

FRIDAY: Pick up Around the House. This is just to tidy, sweep, dust (something I rarely do), and vacuum around the house; the details.

This may seem like a lot, but I have to say that I have already found that doing this once a week, really keeps the work load light. It pretty much stays clean, and I just take care of detail stuff, working through a couple of the detailed items from the FLYLADY zone lists each week will also allow me to have the stuff I would want to hire a MAID for done.

This has been a great change!!  I am loving the results!!  It is my goal to get cleaning done in around an hour each day, allowing me to focus on the areas of life I DO enjoy.