No Takeout Challenge Update #2

I shopped in the freezer section of my house.

The No Takeout Challenge that I started this month has been that--a challenge.  It's an exciting time for me.  Little by little, I have done away with certain junkfoods in my life this year.  I have stayed away from potato chips and soda for over two months.  It has been by choice because I have determined to get healthier.

Unfortunately, and I have to be honest here, I don't feel healthy.  I have been suffering with pain.  Yes, I have to go to the doctor, and I will.  I wish I could truly enjoy this challenge.  I am now also dropping down to one juice drink per day; the rest of the time, I drink mostly water, except for the occasional tea or coffee.

The results:

On Monday, I posted Moderation to Aid Health.  In it, I explained about the need to portion out snacks and cereal.  I did that for several reasons.  For one, I wanted for my kids to stop over-eating junk food.  I also wanted the snacks and cereal to last longer.  Guess what?  It worked!

Another thing I did was shop inside my freezer.  We had eaten beef stew last month and placed the leftovers in the freezer.  We ate the leftovers yesterday.  I also used some former chicken soup for chicken soft tacos.  I simply added taco meat powder to spice it up.

We also made our desserts.  I made some pudding pies, which I will post about this Saturday.  My son also made his Nestle cookies.  I had to make sure that we didn't need to go out of the house to buy donuts.  I hope to make healthier desserts soon, but I am proud of our baby steps.

We have managed to stay away from buying takeout for two weeks so far.  My hubby did buy me some peanut M&Ms at the convenience store this week.  We talked yesterday about our shopping list.  He said if we could buy a large bag of the M&Ms for me.  

My teen daughter asked if maybe we should buy the big bag of little serving sizes of the M&Ms.  I responded that I can eat quite a few of those little bags in one sitting.  I think it's also more expensive to buy the bag that way. To be realistic, I don't need more junk food, but my hubby is the one who wants to buy them for me.  Sometimes, I think he wants me to stay overweight.

I think for this challenge to work, our family needs to keep up the discussions.  Hubby and I have gone to the groceries together.  As we are there, we make decisions about what and how much to buy.  After dinner, we, as a family, don't get up from the table right away.  My kids know that I might want to have some kind of discussion with the whole family.

 

Goal for next week: Cook more dinner meals.

 

Next week, I will have a bigger challenge.  I'll need to work harder.  I will need to make more dinner meals.  I will eventually need to rev up the shopping to make specific meals.  I need to eat my meat everyday so I usually buy three raw chicken packages and at least two pounds of ground meat to last me one week.   

 

Recap of week:

1. Reduced junk food intake.

2. Portioned out snacks and cereal.

3. Shopped in my freezer.

4. Made our own desserts.

5. Had family discussions about meal planning.

 

Thanks for reading my update.  I appreciate any tips and prayers.  I hope to share more tips next week to aid others in this challenge of going without takeout.  Stay tuned!

I've accepted this no-takeout challenge, which began Friday, July 1st to December 31st.  It is not easy, but I know it is worth it.  I want the many benefits that can come from not eating out.  If you want to know more about this challenge, you can visit the SIX Month Money Challenge Facebook page.  If you would like to join, please "like" the page and join the yahoo group that accompanies it, as well.

How about you, my readers?  How often do you buy takeout?  Have you ever tried not buying takeout?  What's the longest you've gone without takeout?  I encourage you to see how you can cut out takeout.  I think it's worth a try.  The benefits are endless.

 

May God bless you all with His wisdom and peace.

This entry has been part of the Family Fun Fridays series.

D is for Using a Digital Camera as a Tool to Teach

 

I'm currently participating in an ABC's for homeschooling challenge.  

Since it falls on Tuesdays, I am adding a technological slant to the challenge.  

I hope you stay tuned and enjoy my entries.

I started out my blog for various reasons.  The most important reason is that I wanted to record life lessons for my children.  I have found, through blogging, that pictures can carry the messages a long way.  Visual cues provide visual learners a way to relate to the information with a much more keen interest in the content.  I, myself, am a visual person so I understand this concept.

Digital cameras can be wonderful teaching tools.

In my blog reading, I have sought out blogs that provide rich images of how mothers organize their own homes.  I am loving this springtime cleaning season.  Many mom bloggers are taking before and after pictures of their decluttering and reorganization of specific rooms.  I love seeing their ideas come to fruition.  The explanations provided entice me to try out some of their ideas, often with my own tweaking.

You might think that I am only referring to myself and my enjoyment of taking photographs.  I have been fortunate enough to have taken some lessons in photography in my junior high and high school years.  They have shaped the way I take photographs.  I don't claim to be an expert.  I just know what I want to convey through my pictures.

Picture-taking is essential for me for several reasons.  Yes, I capture memories.  Yes, I love to record vacations and milestones.  Who doesn't?  I, more importantly, want to teach with my photographs.

Picture of organization of a bedroom, essential to homemaking

For example, to teach homemaking to my children, I am taking before and after pictures of my decluttering efforts in my own home.  I want to show my children about the importance of organization for a home to run efficiently.  It is important that they learn the skill of organization for when they have their own homes.  I am taking the time to jot down notes and adding before and after pictures to my blog entries about organization; I want to provide my children with examples of cleanliness in a home.  It might give them inspiration to reorganize their own bedrooms after seeing what I can do.

Picture of a cooked meal is a wonderful teaching tool.

Another way I use photography to teach my children is in the area of cooking.  I am enjoying blogging and taking pictures of meals (and their ingredients) that my children can make for themselves.  I have blogged about making soups, salads, and tacos.  I have made a point about making meals that are colorful for the eyes, too.  A melody of colors in a meal can lure people into eating your delicious, healthy meals.

Pictures of gardening help teach about science.

Of course, I must mention gardening.  My children should know about plants for science.  Is there a better way to learn about plants than to plant seeds and watch them grow?  I love the fact that out of seeds something big, juicy, and delicious grows out of the earth to eat.  My children have gardened for several years, but with pictures, those memories have been recorded for later viewing.

Well, thanks for reading this entry.  I hope I have provided some advice on how to use a digital camera to teach in your homeschool.  Even if you don't homeschool, all adults and children can use digital cameras to capture memories to teach others on any given subject, including family history, for example.  I hope you will give it a try, if you haven't already.  Photography can provide a different dimension to learning for your children.

 

How about you, my readers?  Do you own a digital camera?  Do you let your children use it?  I encourage you to use a digital camera to create opportunities to provide visual aids in your teaching.  Photography, in itself, can be quite fun, too!

I pray that God gives you all, my beloveds, His wisdom and peace.

This has been an entry for the Technology Tuesdays series.

Our Favorite Dinnertime Meals

My favorite meals involves beans and rice.

What does my family love to eat?

It is difficult at times to make a meal that all of the family will enjoy.  One person may want something different from the others.  I often have to make a meal that has different components to it.  Then, one person can leave out or add any ingredient if they like. A mother and/or her helpers often have to tweak the meals to accommodate everyone.

For example, when I make spaghetti, I leave out the sauce from the ground meat.  My younger son and I love the sauce on our pasta, but the others sometimes do and sometimes don't.  I don't bother to make meatballs, either; they're too time-consuming to make.  Then, we made some toast, adding butter.  For mine, I add a sprinkling of garlic.

My children also like to eat tacos of various kinds.  I like that they are versatile.  The kids can add any ingredients they like.  One daughter likes lettuce.  The other daughter likes tomatoes.  My youngest son likes a cheese taco, while the older one likes ground meat with the shredded mild cheddar in it.  My husband and I like to add avocado, to which I add a few drops of lemon.

Some of them like cheeseburgers.  Two of my children--the oldest ones--like cheeseburgers.  All of them seem to like chicken nuggets.  Some of us like the nuggets with or without barbeque sauce.  Of course, we need our fries, and again, some like ketchup and some don't.

What about you, my readers?  What do your children like?  What does your significant other love to eat?  Can you see the value of making your meals with choices?  I just love the challenge of having everyone eat a meal together, one that everyone can enjoy.

Peace to you, my beloveds.