This is the container of spinach I typically buy from Wegmans.

Spinach Container

For $3.99 you get 3.5 (2 cup) servings.  $3.99 divided by 7 cups of spinach works out to be $0.53 cents per cup.  This is in line with the spinach price listed in the 44 Healthy Food Items Under $1.

Spinach and kale are among the dirty dozen – I rarely make an exception when it comes to buying leafy greens, I feel strongly about sticking with organic when it comes to spinach, lettuce, kale and the like.  Conventional greens are said to be highly sprayed, spinach alone is covered with 48 different pesticides and chemicals.  (ACK!)

Yogurt is on the list of affordable healthy foods, but I have a good feeling that you’re not sitting there thinking “Oh Alison, please tell us more about this curious food item that I’ve never heard of before!”

Yes, yogurt is good for us – this is not news.  But it’s also worth saying that not all yogurt is created equal.  There are plenty of yogurt items in the dairy section that are not what I would call “healthy” by any stretch of the word.  I recommend taking a close look at the label if you’re eating yogurt for the health benefits and put back anything that has an especially long list of ingredients or additives like coloring or flavors.

Recipe for a Clean House

November 27th, 2013 | Posted by Alison Spath in Motivation - (5 Comments)

I love to live in a neat and tidy house, but naturally-neat-and-tidy I am not.  Items collect on our dining room table, clothes gather on furniture, colored pencils and drawings scatter like plastic bags in a windstorm.  In a perfect world I would stay on top it of regularly – but the reality is that I get behind and end up needing to devote time to picking up and cleaning.

I feel like the Slobbiest McSlobberson to admit this, so I take comfort in messy house memes because it leads me believe I am not alone.

Messy House Prayer

A New Chapter

November 9th, 2013 | Posted by Alison Spath in Life - (12 Comments)

When I first started this blog, it was all about me.  I wrote day-to-day, journal style entries that documented my meals and workouts.  I had found my groove in what felt like a much healthier life than I’d ever lived before and I was very excited to share what I had learned and how I was working healthy habits into my life as a stay at home mom of two little girls.  I loved reading healthy living blogs and eventually decided to jump in on the fun, despite knowing how weird it was to take pictures of my meals and telling stories about my latest run, bike ride or nutritional experiment.

This is my new mantra when it comes to getting stuff done around the house:

Done is Better Than Perfect

(even this image is not perfect, but I’m leaving it!  It’s done!)

One day last week I was feeling particularly frustrated with how far behind I was on the house work. Life with a busy, active, won’t-stop-climbing-the-tables-and-chairs toddler makes things… interesting.

There was a pile of dishes in the sink, pots and pan on the counter, more kitchen clutter and dishes on the other counter, the floor was dirty – the mess was driving me nuts and I just couldn’t get to it with Monkey Boy Kaz in the kitchen with me.  I’m also sure I was procrastinating because I felt so buried by it all I didn’t even know where to start.

A Greener Birthday

March 8th, 2013 | Posted by Alison Spath in Vegetable Lovin' - (10 Comments)

My biggest gal turned 9 years old today. NINE! I guess that means I must have been 16 when she was born because I can’t possibly be a day over 25 myself.

(What?)

Ava’s birthday breakfast request was bagels, and so bagels it was.  After Deep Nutrition, bagels became more of a treat around here – this is why it was a birthday request. Bagels have been missed!

Some greens still managed to elbow their way into the birthday breakfast line up – a spinach and mushroom omelet with half a French Toast bagel (awesome!) and cream cheese.

Spinach and Mushroom Omelet

Friday Night Veggie Delight

February 1st, 2013 | Posted by Alison Spath in Dinner Time - (2 Comments)

Tonight’s speedy, kick ass dinner was inspired by the Winter 2013 edition of Menu magazine.

Wegmans Menu Magazine

Namely, Roasted Dashi Eggplant, Dashi Mushrooms and Baby Bok Choy with Garlic Sauce.

Except I went all Three Muskateers on those recipes and tweaked them to make one vegtabulous dinner.

This came together very quickly, which was especially helpful as I was feeling so hungry my stomach was starting to eat itself.

Pulled from the fridge and cupboards:

I have a confession.

The kitchen is not always clean before we go to bed at night.

This has been especially true this week with a husband who was laid up with a man cold. I’m picking on him a little, but we really are a team when it comes to keeping this house clean.  His sick time was evident based on state of the house for a number of days here, I fell way behind on the house work.

Now that we are outnumbered in our parents:kids ratio, our former man-to-man combat plan has become more of a “zone defense” over these past 7 months.

Practice Staying Present

January 13th, 2013 | Posted by Alison Spath in Life - (1 Comments)

Two summers ago I was out for a morning run and passed a man running with a young boy who was probably 9 or 10 years old.  I guessed they were father and son, and that was probably a good guess because the boy looked like a miniature version of the man.  I was impressed to see a kid running a nice pace along side an adult, smiling and easily holding a conversation.  I felt a little twinge of something at that moment – a twinge of hope that my kids might take an interest in running with me one day too.

The Life Changers of 2012

December 31st, 2012 | Posted by Alison Spath in Life - (8 Comments)

At the end of last year I wrote about The Life Changers of 2011 – the books, blogs and other ideas that effected my life in a positive, meaningful way.  I’m here today to do the same for 2012!

Of course, the biggest life changer for us this year was addition of this guy to our family:

Kaz 6 months