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The Un-Burger
Do you ever crave a hamburger? I mean the whole thing, crunchy patty, melted cheese, lettuce, slice of tomato, sauces? Are you drooling yet? I LOVE hamburgers. If it was my choice, I would either have Mexican cuisine or hamburgers every night! But, when you get one most of the calories and fat come from all of the added sauces mostly. Want an alternative?
I grew up with it called “Mexi-Cali Steak”. I’m not sure where it came from but I kept the name and style.
You can get either frozen pre-made patties or make your own – beef or turkey, whatever your preference.
Choose your lettuce for the base on the plate.
After cooking the patty with whatever flavors you like, add a slice of cheese and let it melt, lay that on top of the bed of lettuce on the plate.
Place your sliced tomatoes and onions either on top or displayed around the patty, and then add some sliced avocado and some baked corn tortilla chips.
Serve and enjoy!
Child on Isle #4
Ever have one of those days where you are shopping at the grocery store for the week and your children make half an hour feel like 3 hours?! Even with help from my beloved husband (who really just served as the cow dog) I had to make sure I took a second on each isle to be sure I wasn’t missing something from my list.
How to survive a grocery store visit and leave with your sanity and some of your money?
Go with a list. Sort it into Produce, Cold, Frozen and Dry or Other. If you have the ability to sort by isle based on the store you are shopping at it is even better! If you there is an App you like to use for your shopping list that is fine. I prefer to use the Notes App on my phone to make my list so that I never leave it at home and it has most of my repeat items already. The only drawback to this is that sometimes my boys want to help with the list and I am not willing to let them hold my phone which has the list (to save paper).
Most people would say only to buy what is on your list but honestly, if something is on sale that you didn’t plan on getting and is something you could plan to use in your meal plan the following week, why not get it then.
My kids already know that I will not allow them to “add to the list” from the things at their eye level. You are sure to get things that are not healthy and are over your budget if you let them do that.
I think that it’s a good sign if at least half of your cart is filled with produce.
Don’t forget the kids when you leave though!
No Sleep Friday
Argh! Sleep didn’t go as planned last night (awoken by a 6 year old at 4am screaming for me!) so I REALLY had to push myself (and everyone else) to get going this morning!!
It is said that you should not ever go to bed with unresolved issues with your loved one. I decided that a dirty kitchen would be the same and it does not make my morning a good one if I see that my day starts with a mess! Thus, I found myself being ever so thankful that I had prepared the boys lunches already and had not left the Kitchen a mess overnight. It usually doesn’t take us as long as we think it does to complete the dishes and wipe everything down. And I DON’T use the dishwasher for my dishes – yes, I have one (it comes with the apartment) but I don’t use it. It might seem silly but I don’t have enough dishes to be able to wait for them to be washed and I always felt like I was having to wash them before and after being in the dishwasher anyways. Besides, the two times (in 3 years) that I have used it I was frightened by the sounds coming from the machine making me think that the whole house was about to flood!
Egg-straordinary
We did something we haven’t done in months – we had eggs, hash-browns and bacon for breakfast instead of our smoothie. Granted, it was egg substitute, spicy southwestern style hash browns and turkey maple bacon but it’s been a while and it was delicious.
This morning I made the boys lunches for today and tomorrow so that’s one less thing I have to worry about in the morning. I try to do this as much as possible to make things easier on me.
Right now the oldest is enjoying a sandwich made with the bread I make, ham lunchmeat, baby spring mix greens, cheddar cheese slices, and some smeared lite cream cheese on the bread instead of mayo. He has requested cottage cheese with pineapple for his snacks.
The youngest still requests his peanut butter and honey sandwiches and raisins for a snack. I was sending milk with them but it seemed to be too much (cups kept getting broken) and they get their dairy in other ways in addition to their morning milk. They both get baby carrots and sliced mini bell peppers with their sandwiches.
Crazy House
Yeah, kids are back to school today but for some reason I didn’t hear the alarm and woke everyone up 20 minutes late!
Hubby offered to take the boys to school since he didn’t have to go in to work till later today. I still had to make their lunches so it sounded like a great plan since it would not rush everyone too much, we could all enjoy breakfast and get ready for the day, right? Our oldest thrives on structure and routine and so this all put him into a whirlwind of sorts. Even though he was supposed to be reading once he was ready for school, he wasn’t following directions so I was relieved when it was time for them to leave for school.
I see that I need to create more routines for him to follow even when everything else is turned upside down.
“Snow Day” Take 100
Well, everything just got tossed upside down when the rain froze on the roads causing school to cancel and my husband was delayed getting into work. Chaos reigns in my home right now! At least my boys had their favorite cereal since I made more granola yesterday. Dinner was great and even after all four of us ate there was enough left over for 4 containers. In fact, my refrigerator is stuffed with leftovers right now, which is helpful for busy days/nights and for lunches for hubby or I. One of those days when nothing goes as planned and you just have to “roll with it”.
Corny Kind of Day
It’s a cold, wet day in North Carolina and while I had no intention of making Corned Beef and Cabbage today, the weather seemed to demand it and it was on sale at the store. I will share the recipe shortly. I stuck it all in the crockpot so that it will be ready when my husband gets home from work and I can help the kids with homework instead of being in the kitchen making dinner.
The boys finished up my homemade granola yesterday morning so I made some more (it helps warm up the apartment) and then kept the oven on while the bread machine did the hard part of prepping the bread I’m making to use for sandwiches.
Oh, and this last week everyone contributed quite a bit to the dirty laundry bin so that has to be done (I use those dryer balls and not any of the scented dryer sheets due to skin and respiratory sensitivities in the family). And it wouldn’t be complete without finding some loose loom bands in the lint catcher that someone had left in their pockets!
This morning my husband and I had our usual breakfast, the Spinach and Strawberry smoothie. Yes, we have it every morning and don’t feel complete without it. Even if you think you don’t like spinach you should try it! I will also be providing the recipe for this.
When my boys got home from school the oldest (9) wanted to help with folding laundry (although he admittedly doesn’t like folding and putting away his clothes in his room after taking them off!) so I let him doe the socks. After dinner it was time for showers and then reading before bed. My 6 year old has been coughing fiercely this last week due to allergies (better today because the rain is keeping the tree pollen lower) but night time has been tough so we do the ritual of cough medicine and rubbing ointment on his chest and back. Hoping for a cough free night.
Let's Be Balanced 