Discussion Board

flylady has such a novel idea: do SOME of your housework; work your butt off for 15 minutes in one room, and then you can be done (or not); de-clutter just 25 items (or is it 27?); etc. "Housework done imperfectly still blesses the home" Shine your sink. That's all.

I've been sorta following the babysteps (though I haven't done any hot spot stuff at all) but I started the July Challenge (Swish and Swipe, which is a daily 30 second wipe down of the bathroom sink and toilet) and am loving my cleaned-up bathroom sinks and toilets. Also got the kitchen counters thoroughly cleaned up as the "mission" for yesterday. It took a half hour and my sink, stove top, and all countertops in my kitchen are WONDERFUL.

but it started with shining my sink and looking around, the house is still plenty cluttered in most places...but my sinks are all shiny and beautiful and clean.

Ate well today. Ate not so well yesterday (butter toffee almonds )

(and a lot of them)

I have decided that I like rice best of all. Potatoes are good, and I like quinoa a LOT...LOVE quinoa...but rice is my fave. Gonna keep my lundberg gourmet blend around for sure.

Think I need to check that out as well. I have some clutter, you know, now with having to shred every piece of paper that comes in the mail, it tends to pile up. I probably have 3-4 grocery bags, the plastic ones full of stuff that needs to be shredded & I do not have a shredder. At least it is contaned I guess.

Then my other problem is stuff I would love to take to the dump, but dont have the extra $$ to pay for that.

But I keep my bathroom decently cleaned, I actually have 2 bathrooms, but I never use the other one, need to go in & clean off the dust though. I used to use it to take a bath in but then I had some sewer problems & oh, my gosh, the couple bugs I saw, I just never was comfortable in that tub again.

I think you do have to start with 1 thing, then just keep plugging away. I keep looking at my hearth, I need to get busy on that, just have some stuff that can be tossed, clean it all off, then my whole room will look neater I think.

I hear ya on the shoes. I don't have the problem with germ issues, and I put on shoes anyway, to go to work...but when I'm home, I kick em off. I think she wants shoes on, to help us get in "work mode"...if you work just fine without your shoes, then don't put em on. I have a pair of comfy flat slip ons that I keep near my door. If I have to go outside, the go on easy, and back off again, easy. If i have work to do such as housecleaning, I do wear my shoes for the foot support. I'm prone to bone spurs, which my custom insoles prevent and ya gotta have shoes to have custom inserts! ha!

You can go on the website and contact them, ask about the shoe thing. see what advice they or others might have.

I'd forgotten about her shoe thing, from when I followed flylady years ago.

the way I see it, if the sink is clean, it's something in the house to really feel good about, even if there is still chaos elsewhere. Baby Steps! I followed her awhile back, and my house was overall nice, all the time, with four kids at home, and two of them in diapers. It didn't get clean in one day, though. And this time around, it REALLY isn't getting clean in one day!

I just figured out how much today's food cost me.

I had the same food for all three meals:

Baked potatoe(s); salad; fresh tomato dressing

The potatoes are a 10# of russets, for $1.38. This makes them
.14c a pound. At 1/4 lb per potato, I pay about .03c per potato.

a sack of greens is .69c at the discount grocery where I bought them.

the salad dressing consists of

tomatoes: .69c a lb (I used 1/2 lb of tomatoes for .35c)
onion: .10c per each (I used half, for .05c)
1 clove garlic: ~.04 c
1 TBSP honey: ~.06
dash smoked paprika... ~.05c

so the whole recipe of salad dressing cost me about .55c for just under a quart. I used 1/4 c of dressing each meal. which comes to .05c

so...

1/2 bag of greens= .35c
1-2 potatoes = .03-.06
salad dressing = .05
total for one meal .43-.46c

for three meals, then, I paid no more than $1.38...wow. thank you, God for discount grocery stores. The only food in all of that, not from the discount store, was the tomatoes, at the produce stand for .69c a lb.

Well, I'm going to cut out popcorn. My weight is creeping back up VERY fast, and the only food I'm eating frequently is the popcorn. Just a leeetle spritz of soy sauce for flavor, but it's usually a big batch. I gotta cut it out.

YESTERDAY'S FOOD:

B: baked potato w/ketchup and mustard (WAY much flavor on that ketchup!); baked sweet potato
L: three sisters soup over baked potato
D: three sisters soup; a plate of smashed butternut squash and grated apple with 1/2 tsp maple syrup and some cinnamon
S: popcorn galore

TODAY'S FOOD PLAN:
B: cheezy steel cut oats
L: three sisters soup
D: cabbage soup
S: carrots, apples, pears ???

NO POPCORN...this is weird, because I planned NOT to have popcorn yesterday, and I wasn't hungry, but I was craving the salty. Like...CRAVING...like "had to have it"...so the addiction is now focused on popcorn, but it is still addiction. Ugh.

Hey Buns,

One thing you might to try to cut out or cut down on is the nut. yeast. I was shocked when I read that 3 T. has 80 calories. That could add up quickly if you use it on 2 meals a day even. I tried it, but for me, it smells stale & doesn't really add any "cheese" flavor to my food so I stopped using it quite a while ago.

I remember back in the old days, when I was doing WW, they started selling WW popcorn. I was so discouraged when I saw how small the serving was. I am like, I dont mind eating it plain, but I want more than what is in this bag!! Too easy to overeat on popcorn though, I agree with you there.

i guess everyone reacts to air popped popcorn differently. quinda ,a member on this board eats 3 bowls of air popped popcorn daily!that is 1 1/2 cups of UNPOPPED popcorn daily as well as with her daily baked potatoes,oatmeal ,vegetables and fruit!!i find that i can eat as much air popped popcorn ,plain brown rice cakes,plain puffed rice as i like ( acceptable MWL foods) as long as i stay strict within the guidelines for daily LOTS of raw and steamed vegetables,salads,under 1 cup of legumes,2 fruits .my weight stays the same 5"3 and 102 pounds.

Hi jan...I thought the same, when I first learned the calories of Nooch yeast...but I don't put 3 TBSP in any dish. One TBSP at the most, but lately, in my effort to make food simpler and plainer, I've only been using 1 tsp in a three serving batch of the cheezy steel cut oats. I think that may equate to 3 TBSP in a week...I do love the flavor. In fact, cheezy steel cut oats is my favorite dish. I used to put nooch yeast on my popcorn, but the soy sauce doesn't make it stick like butter does, so I don't anymore.

Maybe I need to commit to 30 min walk every day "30 Minutes a Day. No Excuses" a la Dr Oz...once the exhaustion from the cellulitis is gone, that is my plan. I really am a couch potato lately, and I know it's because I've been wiped out from the illness.

Buns, I wonder if upping the greens in your menus will help the weight come off. Have you been to SactoBob's blog? Some REALLY great simple recipes with pix!

Glad you're feeling better!

I think that's a TERRIFIC idea. When I was so sick last week, and between paychecks, I made batch after batch of Kale and Carrot soup. I need to pick up kale, but I'm thinking that soup, and a whole lot of cabbage soup will be good to make. That'll increase my greens. Salads simply don't turn me on right now. I like muh greens COOKED.

I added half a can of collard greens to my soup for lunch today. Think I'll hit the discount store and buy up all their kale...if they have it. they usually do...

Me too blondie! soup is magic. You put veggies and water in a pot, and let it boil for 30 minutes or so, and it turns into FOOD! Soup! Love it!

Last night I made a huge pot of cabbage soup and plan on a Mary's Mini using it as my main food for awhile. I don't know how long. I have another head of cabbage, so I might be able to get through the rest of the month with it. Maybe. At any rate, it's a big batch of soup and my kids don't like it, so I'll have it for many meals here for awhile. I'd like to see the scale actually go down.

as for the popcorn, I totally agree. I've been able to avoid so many fatty, salty snacks because of popcorn. The cheetos at work (my boss loves them and keeps a big bag of them) or the potato chips my kids actually held beneath my nose...my popcorn saved me from indulging...but I think I'm eating too much of it, or something. I pop 3/4 a cup at a time, which makes six (?) c of popped corn. Share it with my kids but they don't like it much so they often leave me more than half...

I just dunno. I'm going to *try* not to have it during the week and just eat it on Saturdays as a reward for NOT eating it during the week.

still eating zero added salt. I hope it helps the edema. I hope keeping the edema down keeps the celluilitis away!

Heidi, what's your cabbage soup recipe? I just bought a HUGE cabbage at the farmer's market and have been wondering what to do with it.

I made this current batch, which completely filled a 6 quart soup pot, with a half of a large head of cabbage. Adjust as needed.

1/2 large head of cabbage
1 lg onion
6-8 med small carrots, peeled and sliced
4 med large potatoes, cut in bite sized chunks
three lg ribs celery, sliced
1 can diced tomatoes w/jalapeno
2 cans plain diced tomatoes
three limes, cut in half

Cut up the cabbage in 1" chunks. Cut up the onion in .5" chunks. Put in pot and cover with water. Add the cans of tomatoes, and the rest of the veggies EXCEPT THE LIMES. This amount filled my pot to the rim. (as it cooks, the volume decreases some)

Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer until Soup Magic does its work add water to increase volume, if desired. ...when it's all cooked and turns into soup, put the lime halves in and let it sit for a little while. Once the limes are soft, squeeze them thoroughly, juice and pulp in the soup.

It's good with any grains, or plain. I checked some calories place and found a bowl of this stuff only has 71 cals!

TODAY'S FOOD

B: cabbage soup
L: cabbage soup
D: cabbage soup w/quinoa
S: I do NOT believe myself, but I had a cupcake at work It didn't taste good but I consumed it like a starving person. Dang. And no, I was NOT feeling hungry when I ate it.

seriously thinking about finding an OA meeting somewhere.

Dear buns, I love catching up on your journal. I know just what you mean, with the OA mtgs. and the air popped corn, I tend to eat the entire batch myself with some paprika on it. Altho the spices falls down with the popcorn anyway, it does give some flavor. I did not know that puffed rice was a legal MWL food, I used to love that as a kid!!
You are doing great. thanks for being my inspiration!!
I will have to make up a cabbage soup too!
Congrats to you!