Ideas

I have had so many new ideas on my mind lately! I feel like I really need to sort all this stuff out and write it all down!

*The Raw Food Diet
I've looked into this diet before, about a year ago, and I was pretty interested in it. It's all about only eating fresh fruits, veggies and nuts. Seems a little crazy and I've never wanted to be a vegetarian, but something about this diet seems right. My diet right now is so UNHEALTHY! I'm a sugar addict. I love soda! I never/rarely eat fruits or veggies. Heath also needs to find a diet that works for him that we can do together. I also feel like Haven could use a better diet. I feel sad that she didn't get to breastfeed as long as I wanted her to. If we went on this diet, I think it would be so good for her. I just feel tired all the time. I also have floating anxiety. I think my poor diet contributes to these symptoms.

*Baby Led Solids
I've been reading up on Baby Led Solids (also sometimes called Baby Led Weaning) and I'm really liking the idea. The idea is to never spoon fed the baby, but give him regular food from your plate that he can pick up and eat on his own. What I'm wanting to do with Logan is 1)only start solids when he clearly is interested in trying solid foods. This means I will not push anything on him, he may just have to grab it out of my plate, lol. 2)make sure breastmilk is about 90% of his food source until he is 12 months old. I think people overdo the solids before it is healthy for the baby. I think I made this mistake with Haven, causing her to wean way too early. I am not starting solids in order to wean the baby as a lot of mothers might do because I don't want the baby to wean at 12 months -which is the norm.

*Breastfeeding for Birth Control
This idea is what led me to Baby Led Solids. I couldn't figure out why this didn't work for me with Haven. I think maybe the answer lies in the amount of solids I started giving her at 6 months old. She was eating so many solids and so little breastmilk, that she essentially began weaning at 6 months, causing my period to return! I've heard a lot about people who exclusively breastfed and yet their period returned before they ever started the baby on solids, so I'm not sure if my thinking is correct on this, but I think it's worth a retry since normal birth control methods are not for me.

*Minimalism
I've done a few things in the minimalist area lately, but their is more that I want to do. I want to minimalize my clothes again. I still have so much that I don't wear and it's just getting in the way. I also just have other random junk in general. The more I minimalize, the easier my life becomes.

*Elimination Communication with an Infant
I've been doing this with Logan and have had great results. I love the fact that he know how to poop in the potty and he rarely ever has to sit in his poop. He hates to have a wet diaper, so I change it frequently! I wish I could take it to the next level and have him do all his pees in the potty, but I'm afraid that it might mean being in the bathroom all day long! I'm still taking it easy in that regard.

*Rental Property Business
We have finally bought our 2nd rental property -a duplex. I'm pretty excited about closing on it and getting it ready to rent! Eventually, we hope that Heath can quit his job and the rental properties can be our sole income. Once we get renters in this duplex, our income from our rentals will exceed our income from Heath's job! However, we feel that we will need at least two more rentals to feel comfortable with him quiting his job.

*Exercising for the Baby Belly
I'm afraid of not losing my baby belly this time around and I need to do something about it!

Well, now my mind should be clear!

Yobaby!

I bought the Yobaby yogurt for Haven (Heath wasn't with me when I went shopping, lol). I got the 6 pack with vanilla and banana flavors. I mixed the banana with rice cereal and she liked it pretty well. It took three meals to use the whole 4 oz. Tonight, I decided to just feed her the vanilla without mixing it with the cereal. She LOVED it! I decided to taste it to see what the big deal was -it tasted like icing! LOL! She ate almost the whole 4 oz. I finished off the rest. It was delicious. The nutrition facts says it has 13 g of sugar including natural milk sugar. Seems like a lot for a baby. I will probably mix it with cereal from now on.

EASY & AFFORDABLE MEAL PLAN

MEAL 1

GROUND BEEF STROGANOFF

¾ pound ground beef, lean
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
10 3/4 ounces cream of mushroom soup, condensed
3/4 cup sour cream, or yogurt

In medium skillet, brown ground beef and onion; drain excess fat. Stir in garlic salt, pepper, soup and mushrooms. Simmer covered, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in sour cream; heat through, but do not boil. Serve over rice, noodles or chow mein noodles.

Serving Size: 4

CREAMY - CHEESY CORN

3 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. milk
1 tbsp. butter
1/2 tsp. salt
1 (16 oz.) can whole kernel shoepeg corn, drained

Mix all ingredients, except corn; cook over low heat until cheese melts, stirring often. Add corn and heat thoroughly.

(This meal was a big hit last night. DH LOVED the corn. Haven ate a lot of the stroganoff)

MEAL 2

EASY CHICKEN FAJITAS

boneless chicken breast
1 1/2 c. water or chicken broth
1 pkg. taco seasoning
2 chopped bell peppers (red, green, or yellow)

Cut chicken breast into strips. Simmer strips in water or broth until just about done.Place in skillet along with 1 cup cooking water or broth, taco seasoning, and chopped bell peppers.Simmer until chicken is done and sauce becomes thick. Add remaining water or broth (1/2 c.) and simmer 10 minutes. Ready to eat! Recommended Toppings: Lettuce, Tomato, Refried Beans, Sour Cream, Taco

MEAL 3

SHEPHERDS PIE (POOR MANS PIE)

¾ lb. ground beef
1 can peas
1 can sweet corn
1 medium onion, diced
1/3 c. sugar
8 medium potatoes
2 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Boil potatoes, mash and season to taste with milk and butter. Brown ground beef and onion with salt and pepper. When cooked, add peas, corn, sugar. Let simmer until heated through. In 13x9 pan place meat and vegetable mixture in bottom of pan. Cover with mashed potatoes and sprinkle cheese on top. Place in oven on BROIL until cheese is bubbly or light brown.

MEAL 4

SAUCY MEATBALL SUPPER

¾ lbs. ground beef
1/2 c. onion, chopped
2 eggs
1/4 c. milk
1 tsp. salt
Dash of pepper
1 c. (2 slices) soft bread crumbs
2 tbsp. snipped parsley
1/2 tsp. dried oregano, crushed

Mix all ingredients well. Shape into 1 inch balls. In large skillet, brown meatballs in a little shortening on all sides. Drain off excess fat. Combine one (11 ounce) can condensed cheddar cheese soup, 1/2 cup water, and 1/4 cup dry white wine. Add to meat in skillet. Cook, covered, over low heat 15 to 20 minutes. Serve over cooked spaghetti, noodles or rice. Serves 6.

MEAL 5

CHICKEN MEXICALI

1 chicken, boil 7 deboned
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 sm. onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 tsp. chili powder
1 can Rotel tomatoes with chilies

Doritos

Grated cheese

Mix all the above ingredients in 9"x12" pan and pour over corn Doritos and top with grated cheese. Bake for 35 minutes at 350 degrees.

MEAL 6

PORCUPINE MEATBALLS

3/4 lb. ground beef
1/2 c. uncooked rice
1/4 onion, chopped fine
1/2 slice white bread
1 can tomato soup
Salt & seasoning salt, to taste

Take 1/2 slice white bread, add 1/2 cup cold water and mix. Add to meat, seasoning, onion and rice. Form into meatballs and place into ungreased, covered electric fry pan or heavy fry pan. Cover with 1 can tomato soup and 1 can of water which have been mixed together. Place cover on skillet or fry pan. Cook on medium heat (just so tomato juice lightly boils) until rice pops out like a porcupine. Can also be placed in heavy pan in 350 degree oven (covered) until rice pops out.

MEAL 7

SUMMER’S POTATO SOUP

5 - 8 potatoes

Half a stick of butter

¼ cup of milk

¼ stick of Velveeta

Skin and boil the potatoes. Drain. Add butter, milk, and Velveeta. Allow Velveeta to melt.

SHOPPING LIST

MEAT

1 bag chicken breasts

3 lbs ground beef

CANS

1 Cream of chicken soup

2 cream of mushroom soup

1 cheddar cheese soup

1 rotel

1 peas

1 sweet corn

1 refried beans

1 tomato soup

1 shoepeg corn

VEGETABLES

Bag of onions

3 bell peppers

1 bag potatoes

SEASONING

Chili powder

Parsley

Oregano

Taco seasoning

DAIRY

Milk

Grated cheese

2 cups sharp cheddar cheese

Sour cream

3 oz cream cheese

Butter

OTHER

Rice

Eggs

Bread

Doritos

Sugar

Velveeta

COST ABOUT $48.00

(My total cost was $48.82. However, I also bought 2 muffin mixes, 1 can of salsa, and 1 can of chili. I did not buy tomato soup, Velveeta, butter, parsley or oregano.)