Souper Combo

February 26th, 2014 | Posted by Alison Spath in Lunch - (4 Comments)

I ate this exact turkey sandwich and soup combo for lunch for three days in a row,

Soup and Salad Lunch

for two reasons:

1. Because it was really good.

2. The recipe I’m about to share makes a lot of soup.  Halve the recipe if you won’t be able to eat/share 10 cups of soup over the course of three or four days.  Now that Zak works from home, we have no trouble eating this much soup in a relatively short period of time.  You could also freeze the leftovers to have on hand when you don’t feel like cooking some time in the future.  (I need to get better at remembering to do this!)  Read more...

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Muesli (with Pumpkin Seeds!)

February 25th, 2014 | Posted by Alison Spath in Breakfast - (5 Comments)

I’ve been on a muesli kick for the last two weeks or so.

Museli Mix

And just in time, because pumpkin seeds are on the list of healthy, affordable foods – and pumpkin seeds go great in muesli!

Pumpkin Seeds or Pepitas

If you aren’t in the know, muesli is a cereal combo (usually) made with oats, nuts, seeds and dried or fresh fruit.  Bananas have been my fresh fruit of choice lately, but frozen, thawed strawberries have been known to make an appearance in my bowl too.

Top with Banana  Read more...

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The Pendulum (and Why I Broke Up With Low Carb)

February 23rd, 2014 | Posted by Alison Spath in Weight Loss - (15 Comments)

(Just a heads up, this post is 2842 words long.)

Healthy living is a journey.  (Shocking, I know.)

Your Plan
photo credit: The Internet

This image is such a great reminder that progress toward any goal or habit change you’re working on is not going to be linear.  You’re not a failure when you hit some bumps along the way and are not getting it exactly right.  Ups and downs are totally normal and to be expected, we just have to keep on keepin’ on.  Read more...

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Italian Sausage and Tomato Soup With Kale

February 17th, 2014 | Posted by Alison Spath in Dinner Time - (4 Comments)

If you eat kale, do you remember a time when you didn’t eat kale?

I sure do.  Kale was totally a “No, thank you” food as a former only-iceburg-lettuce-eating lady.  But then I tried kale chips sometime in 2008 or 2009, and my love for kale began.  I’m fairly sure that kale chips are the gateway drug to dark leafy greens.  If kale seems dark and scary to you – try it in chip form.  It’s hard to say “No Thanks” when it’s warm and crispy and delicious after being baked in a little oil and salt.  Read more...

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Cottage Cheese in Da House!

February 10th, 2014 | Posted by Alison Spath in Healthy Snack Attack - (3 Comments)

Today we’re going to look at cottage cheese as an affordable health food option because it’s on The List.

Honestly, I rarely buy cottage cheese.  I like it, but it’s not what I would call My Most Favorite Thing Ever.  I try to buy organic dairy products (not always, but most of the time) and organic cottage cheese always seems kind of expensive to me… with a $4.99 price tag (!!) on a 16 oz container of Organic Valley cottage cheese, this is one item I only buy when I’ve really got a hankering for cottage cheese.  (i.e., not that often.)

Organic Valley 2% Cottage Cheese  Read more...

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Oatmeal is Cheap (and this post is random)

February 7th, 2014 | Posted by Alison Spath in Breakfast - (11 Comments)

(It’s Friday night and I’m writing about oatmeal.  See –> “this post is random.”)

With all the reading and blogging I’ve done about eating less grains and cutting down on carbs, I have a confession to make.

I still love oatmeal.

I know, I know, who cares!  It’s just oatmeal.  The world has much bigger problems than this.  But it sort of feels like a dirty carb secret.  I READ GRAIN BRAIN!  I’VE READ THE PALEO BOOKS!  I’m not supposed to like oatmeal anymore!

But I do.  I admit it.  Sometime I eat oatmeal.  Love me.  Read more...

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Make Your Own Laundry Detergent

February 1st, 2014 | Posted by Alison Spath in Healthy Habits - (7 Comments)

Over the summer I saw an article from Make Magazine about making your own laundry detergent.  While we’re talking about eating healthy on a budget, this is a nice time to talk about a slightly different way to save some money at the grocery store.  (On a non-food item of course, but still might be a part of your grocery budget.)

I like to buy the more earth friendly, natural brands of household cleaning products (Seventh Generation, Ecos, Citra Solv are a few of my favorite brands) for both the environmental and health concerns.  These natural cleaning products are typically more expensive than commercial brands and can quickly increase your grocery bill.  Much like saving money on preparing your own food – making your own cleaning products at home can totally pay off too.  Read more...

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