Day 5 & 6...the yumminess continues!

Hello frugal friends!! Well...my first week of the Arbonne 28 day challenge is quickly coming to a close. What a week it has been!! First of all, the good news is that the detox has moved on! PRAISE THE LORD! I am finally feeling like a human being. I am growing more and more impressed with how easy it is for me to turn down things that used to be irresistible. Tonight...I took my 4 year to a dance recital. Those of you who know me know that my middle name might as well be Chocolate. My daughter asked and received a....and I quote...."brownie cookie." Did I have one bite? NOPE! I drank my water like a good girl. I'm telling you friends....this would have NEVER happened before. No matter what diet I was on. It's a good day!

So let's talk food. The food these past two days have been pretty tasty. Here is a recap of what I've had:

Friday (Day 5):
Breakfast: Chocolate Oat Protein Shake
AM Snack: Skipped this one
Lunch: Turkey Burger (Left over from Thursday)
Afternoon Snack: Homemade Protein Bar
Dinner: Zesty Tomato Sauce with Brown Rice Pasta
PM Snack: Green Apple with Almond Butter

Saturday (Day 6):
Breakfast: GF Oatmeal with Strawberries & Blueberries
AM Snack: Carrots w/ Hummus
Lunch: Zesty Tomato Sauce with Brown Rice Pasta (Friday leftover)
Afternoon Snack: Homemade Protein Bar
Dinner: Porcupine Meatballs with Cauliflower Mash
PM Snack: Chocolate Strawberry Shake

My favorite of the two days has to be dinner tonight.....Porcupine Meatballs with Cauliflower Mash. This was amazingly delicious and I really didn't feel like I had a missed a thing!

Here is how I made it:

Ingredients:
1 lbs grass feed beef
1/2 cup brown rice
1/2 t. minced onion
1/2 t. garlic powder
salt
pepper
24 oz tomato sauce

Take the ground beef and place in a large bowl. Add rice, onion, garlic powder, salt & pepper a mix together. Form into meat ball. Place in a 9x13 pan. Cover in tomato sauce and cover in tin foil. Place in 350 degree oven for 1 hour (uncover for the last 15 minutes). Once they're done, serve on mashed cauliflower.

Seriously...how easy is that?!?! Plus...the cauliflower did NOT taste like cauliflower. I mean really....I even fooled the 4 year old!!

Anyway...it's been a great week!! I can't believe it's already over!! I'm hoping the next 3 weeks go just as fast. :) I can't wait to get on the scale in the morning and see the difference!! Stay tuned to the blog. I will be headed to the grocery store in the next few weeks!! The savings will be pouring in!

Blessings,

Day 4....detox is no joke!

Hello again, my frugal friends!! I'm a pleased to say that I've made it through Day 4 of my 28 day challenge. This one has been the toughest one yet!! I was expecting this to be hard....mentally. I thought...I will crave my coke zero or die for a piece of chocolate. To be honest...that has NOT been a problem. Yes...other foods are tempting, but for some reason it's easy to say no. Here is the problem I'm facing....my body detoxing. I literally feel like I've been hit by a mac truck! I've got body aches, headaches, and feel weak most of the day. Unfortunately...this is all part of the detox process. Just goes to show how much crap I've put into my body! The bonus is I know it will be over soon.

As for the food...it was a great success! I can honestly say there is nothing I didn't like today!! In fact, my meals were so satisfying today, that I didn't have two of my snacks!! I'd say it was a major food success.

Here is what I enjoy:
Breakfast: Morning Mocha Protein Shake
AM Snack: Skipped this one
Lunch: Grilled Chicken Salad with Lemon garlic vinaigrette
Afternoon Snack: Homemade Protein Bar
Dinner: Turkey Burger with Sweet Potato Fries
PM Snack: Skipped this one

Breakfast: Morning Mocha Protein Shake

Lunch: Grilled Chicken Salad with Lemon Garlic Vinaigrette 

Dinner: Turkey Burger with Sweet Potato Fries

The shake is a little deceiving. Being a coffee lover, I was pretty stoked about the mocha part. But alas...there was no mocha....just a chocolate almond butter shake. Either way...it was pretty tasty. I think this was definitely my favorite food day so far. Everything was really tasty and I was completely blown away by how good the turkey burger was!! Here is how I made them:

I started with a glass bowl and put 1 pound of ground turkey in the bowl ( I bought my turkey at Fresh Market). To the turkey, I added 1 large handful of chopped spinach. I used my pampered chef slap chopper thingy. It's amazing....if you don't have one of those...get one. Sorry..that was a side bar. :) To the spinach and turkey add a bit of parsley, rosemary, garlic, salt & pepper. No real measurements here....just as much as you like.

After mixing it all up, divide the burgers into four paddies. 

Then throw into the ol' cast iron!

These burgers were really, really good!! I was seriously impressed. Even without the cheese, ketchup, mustard or mayo...I loved it. I also use Udi's Gluten Free Buns (purchased at Fresh Market). These burgers were so good even my precious 4 year old approved. :) 

Day 4 is done and I'm ready for the next one. Here's hoping the detox ends soon! I'm excited for my weigh in Sunday morning!! I bet I will see a difference. ;)

Blessings,

Day 3....ended with a bang!

Well frugal friends...I've made it through day 3!! WOOT WOOT!! Today has been a rough one. To be honest...I don't feel well. I'm not sure if my body is just yucky from detoxing or if I'm coming down with something, but I've felt pretty puney today. Couple that with two fever ridden 15 month old boys...and let's just say...it's been interesting.

Again...the day had some serious ups and downs. My favorite of the day was my PM snack...we'll talk about that in a minute. :) The downside was lunch. Surprise, Surprise. It was the same meal from last night. :( I followed my handsome husband's advice and put the chicken fajitas on a lettuce wrap. Here's truth, friends. It was much better than last night....but I still missed the dairy & gluten. It was a no go. So.. I feel like that is one I won't be repeating. Anyway...the rest of the day was pretty good. Here is what I had:

Breakfast: Mixed Berry Protein Shake
AM Snack: Apple Pie Lara Bar
Lunch: Chicken Fajita Lettuce Wrap
Afternoon Snack: Homemade Protein Bar (I also had a piece of turkey at 4pm)
Dinner: Zesty Quinoa Salad served over Spinach with Lemon Sauce
PM Snack: Strawberry Snowcone

Breakfast: Mixed Berry Protein Shake

Lunch: Chicken Fajita Lettuce Wrap

Dinner: Zesty Quinoa Salad over Spinach with Lemon Sauce

Dinner was my favorite of all the meals today. It was a really great salad. Trace & I had never had Quinoa before and we are definitely fans. When I make this again...I will change a few things. The biggest will be adding more almonds. The crunch really made it awesome!! The shake was also very good. I have to say though.....after the amazing-ness of yesterday's shake....it was hard to be in love. ;)

So...did you see what I put above?? STRAWBERRY SNOW CONE!!! 

If you know me, you know that I have a serious obsession with a local snow cone place. My favorite flavor is Strawberry Wedding Cake with cream. Though this was not my favorite frozen treat...it was a close second. Not to mention....it was INCREDIBLY frugal. My favorite icy sweetness runs me $3.75 a piece. I don't have an exact number on price for this recipe, but my guess would be between $.50-$1.00. Not bad for a fabulous end of May treat. Did I mention it also meets ALL of the requirements for my cleanse! Here is how I made it.

I started by making the strawberry sauce. Add 2 cups of strawberries to a saucepan. To the strawberries, add 1/2 cup of water and the equivalent of 1/2 cup of sugar. I used stevia....so for me...it was 12 packets. 

Bring this mixture to a boil and then reduce to simmer. Let simmer for 10 minutes. When the strawberries have finished, place in a blender and puree. I put my sauce in a cute little mason jar and placed it in the fridge. You will want to put this in the fridge for at least 20 minutes. 

When it's snow cone time, you will need to make your snow. I have an AMAZING blender!! I'm lucky to have a Ninja Ultima blender. It makes ice into snow in no time!

When you've got snow...you've got a snow cone!! All I did was pour the sauce over the top and I was in sweetness heaven. Definitely what I need after a rough day. 

 So....three down and 25 to go. My hope is that I will be feeling better tomorrow. I can tell you that I definitely fell better when it comes to bloating. It's amazing to me that I can already feel the difference! Bring on Day 4!!

Blessings,

Day 2 and all new challenges...

Well...the honeymoon is over!! Haha! That was like the shortest honeymoon ever! Today was a successful day 2 of the cleanse, but a little bit more difficult. The caffeine headaches have kicked in. These were expected. However...when you couple that with two twin boys having 15 month shots and blood work for iron levels, it makes the caffeine headache a bit more than I was expecting.

The good news is I survived and ate pretty well. The boys are sleeping and I'm ready to start the day again tomorrow. But before I do...let me give the break down on the day.

Breakfast: Green Apple Goodness Shake
Snack: Hummus & Carrots/Crackers
Lunch: Turkey Lettuce Wraps, Hummus and Carrots, Green Apple
Afternoon Snack: Skipped this one today...to busy at the doctor. ;)
Dinner: Baked Chicken Fajitas Salad
PM Snack: Protein Bar

So...there were definitely some highs and some lows. One high was breakfast. HOLY COW!! The Green Apple Goodness shake was insane!! It was basically a Cinnamon Apple Smoothie, but HOLY MOLY, friends....yummy!! The low for the day...for me...was dinner. I love to make Fajitas in the oven and that is exactly what I did tonight. However, instead of enjoying it on a yummy flour tortilla with cheese & sour cream, I had it on a bed of romaine lettuce. To be honest....I missed the tortilla, cheese & sour cream. My brilliant husband suggested we use the lettuce as a lettuce wrap for these and I think that would definitely work. I might try that in the future. But...as for this formula...I don't think it will be repeat.

My favorite meal of the day was lunch. I decided to make a simple Turkey Lettuce wrap. It was super easy and seriously yummy. Here is what used:

2 large leaves of Romaine Lettuce
1/2 of an avocado
1 Roma Tomato
6 slices of English Cucumber
2 slices of Free Range deli turkey (I bought mine at Fresh Market)

I began by taking the Romaine lettuce and laid each out. I then removed the avocado from the shell and mashed it up with a bit of salt and lemon juice. I spread this mixture over the lettuce and then layered turkey, tomato and cucumber.

IT WAS AMAZING!! I'm a turkey, mayo and provolone kind of girl and I can assure that I did NOT miss the mayo, cheese or the bread!! All in all it was a major success and I will definitely be repeating.

I would definitely say today was more of a challenge than yesterday...and I figure this is just the beginning of the challenges to come. But...the good news is I'm a Jesus girl and I know He is all over this!! So...bring on the challenge!

Blessings,

Day 1 is in the books...

Well friends....Day 1 is in the books. Here is the good news....I didn't completely hate it!! I've learned a lot....like how NOT to make Zucchini chips (more to come on this later). But all in all...it was a great day. Trace and I were both successful and we both feel pretty good. I'm not going to bed hungry...so I feel like that means I've won. :)

So....let's talk about today's menu. It was pretty easy and dinner was stinkin' fantastic. Here is what we had:

Breakfast: Strawberry, Lemon, Basil Smoothie
AM Snack: Homemade Protein Bar
Lunch: Kale Salad with Italian Chicken & Garlic Lemon Vinaigrette
Afternoon Snack: Carrots with Hummus
Dinner: Lemony Chicken with Sauteed Broccoli & Brown Rice
PM Snack: Pecan Pie Lara Bar

All in all...the day wasn't too bad. The thing that surprised me the most was the Strawberry Smoothie. To be honest, when I saw basil...I was pretty convinced I would start the day by getting sick. :) Haha!! Good news....it was delicious. The basil gave it this very bright flavor. I really enjoyed it.

Breakfast: Strawberry Surprise Smoothie

Lunch: Kale Salad with Italian Chicken & Lemon Garlic Vinaigrette 

Dinner: Lemony Chicken with Sauteed Broccoli & Brown Rice

Although...my favorite item of the day was my homemade protein bar. First of all....can we have a moment for the price of Protein bars!?! They are stupid expensive. I mean come on....$3.99 for a bar that taste like chalk....I don't think so. Plus...the majority of the time, those crazy things are packed full of chemicals I cannot say. When I started looking through this cleanse, I noticed that Arbonne has a line of bars. However, my consultant recommended that I make my own protein bars. So...I did...and kids...they are A-MA-ZING!! Like seriously...these things are out of this world yummy. Not to mention incredibly frugal.

I will share the recipe with you, but before I do. Let's talk the frugal part of this recipe. A normal protein bar that you can buy at the store will run you between $1.99-$3.99 per bar.  This bar is $1.17 per bar!! That is a serious savings. Not to mention....these are made with Arbonne's protein powder which is insane delicious(in the realm of protein powders)....but pretty pricey at $69 for 30 servings. So....even with pricier ingredients...it's still a serious bargain!

So...let's talk about how you make them

Ingredients: 

2 cups or 16oz of Almond Butter ( I got a big batch at Sam's club)

2.25 cups of Arbonne Chocolate Protein Powder

1.5 cups of Organic Agave Nectar ( I got this at my favorite savings spot...Aldi)

3 cups of Gluten Free Oats (I purchased mine from a local grocery store...Harps)

Begin by adding the almond butter and Agave Nectar to a microwaveable safe bowl. I would suggest using a pretty big bowl. It will make it easier when you add the other ingredients. Put the bowl in the microwave for 70-90 seconds. Then, add the protein powder & GF Oats. Mix together and then pour them out onto a half sheet baking sheet. Press the bars out to fill the pan and then place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. 

SIDE NOTE: I rubbed the pan down with a little coconut oil prior to putting the bars in the pan. I think this made it a little easier to get out. 

Once the bars had set, I cut them into 24 pretty similar sized bars and wrapped them individually in aluminum foil. I then placed them in a large zip top bag. 

This was by far my favorite part of the day!! This bar is delicious and has a serious nod to the no bake cookies I love!

Anyway...day one is in the books and I survived. I'm excited to see what tomorrow is like and even more excited to see how different I feel in a week.

See you soon,

Let's talk cleanse...

Okay friends! So....a few people have asked what cleanse I am doing. We have decided to do Arbonne's 28 day challenge. Let's face the facts, this is a blog about savings, so let's talk about the frugal side of this.

The challenge involves lots of things. A few of them, we decided not to opt into. These were things like the fiber plus, the chews, and the detox tea.

Here is what we did choose:

1 bag of Vanilla Protein Powder
1 bag of Chocolate Protein Powder
2 7-Day Cleanse
2 boxes of Pomegranate Fizz Sticks
3 bottles of clear control facial system (no apart of the cleanse :)

The total of all of this is $368
Now....let's be real....that is not frugal approved. :) The good news is that I did not pay $368. I paid $220.

Here is how:
Arbonne has a preferred customer program That costs $20 a year.  When you first sign up, you get to choose $325 in product for $200, plus a $50 free gift. Not a bad deal for this frugalista.

Now...let's be real, $220 is a LOT of money and definitely not something I plan to do a lot. But...it's time for a change for this Frugal momma. So....here we go.

A whole new savings is coming...

Hello Friends!! It's been so long that I am embarrassed!! I can't believe I've been so terrible about posting. Well...that's not true. I have 1 year old twins....let's be real. I'm lucky that I get out of bed everyday. :)

Anyway...I'm back in the saddle and ready to begin a frugal journey and here is why! My husband and I will begin a crazy journey tomorrow morning. We have decided to begin a 28 day challenge. My sweet friend, Callie, is an Arbonne consultant. A while back, she and I did a co-party (Thirty One/Arbonne) in Missouri. On car ride together, she told me all about this crazy cleanse and how she was already feeling like a new woman. At the time, I was still nursing the twins and knew it wouldn't be possible to do any kind of cleanse when I was providing their nourishment. However, the thought always stayed in the back of my mind. A few weeks ago, My husband, Trace, and I decided it was time to make a change and immediately the 28 day challenge came to mind. So...here we are!!

Here is how the cleanse works. Trace and I will combine a 28 day eating plan with a 7 day liquid cleanse. Our diet will be Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Soy-Free, Pork-Free and Sugar-Free. We will be able to eat grass feed beef and free range chicken. We can also eat berries & green apples as well cage free eggs. Needless to say, it's a bit restrictive. But we are ready for the challenge.

However....there is a whole other challenge that we will face. That is the MONEY challenge. I'm still a stay at home mom on one income. I can gladly say that my amazing Thirty One business is thriving, but it's not like we are millionaires. :) So...I've got to put my frugal spin on this. I learned this the hard way today. After making our grocery list, I decided that I really didn't need to worry to much about couponing or what not. Umm...WRONG!! After three store, I spent almost $200 on one week's worth of groceries. Our budget is $125. So....here is the deal, I've got to make this work. I've got to find clean eating organic foods and fit our budget. So join me on my journey. It's going to be crazy! :)