Low iron?

I have low iron when I'm pregnant.  It is lame because it makes me even more tired.  My last midwife,  Eve,  told me about an all natural product called Floridix.  It is an all food supplement.  It is also nonconstipating like most iron pills are.  It is easier to absorb because it is just food.  It makes all the difference for me and my energy levels during pregnancy.  

Pregnancy workouts

I have been doing lots of ballet, barre, and Pilates type workouts this pregnancy.  It has felt so good! i feel like these workouts are perfect for keeping my body trim and tone with very low impact.  These would be perfect for the postpartum period too.  Here are the ballet DVDs I like:

Element ballet conditioning

Ballet beautiful total body workout

Ballet beautiful body blast

Tracy Anderson's mat workout

Tracy Anderson's pregnancy project

I really love all of these DVDs.  I got some of them at the library before I bought them, so if your interested, you might wanna check there first.   I actually just keep checking out the pregnancy project because it s kind of expensive.  It is fun though because there is a new workout for every month of pregnancy, so you feel like you are progressing.

I have also been going to a pure barre class 2 times a week.  I got a groupon for it and I absolutely love it.  It is very similar to the videos.  There is mat work and bar work and I feel great after I'm done.  There is a lot of small movements and isometric training.  It burns!  

I started the DVDs before I got pregnant and I immediately noticed a difference in my body.  I was just tighter.  I especially noticed my arms were more tone after doing Tracy Anderson's mat workout.  She has a killer arm section in there.   So if your interested in getting into the ballet trend,  do it! 

4th of July Recipes

I am not a very consistent blogger.  sorry.  I have had super bad morning sickness this past couple months and even though I am feeling a lot better, it still comes and goes.  I have to do the Relief Society announcements for my ward.  (I'm LDS or Mormon)  I have been including healthy recipes in the announcements so I thought I would copy and paste them here.   Have a happy and healthy 4th of July!!  I have personally made all of these recipes and they are delish!

Tangy Citrus BBQ Chicken, serves 4
1/2 C Ketchup ½ C Orange Juice 2 T Apple Cider Vinegar 2 T Molasses 1 tsp Dijon mustard ½ tsp smoked paprika ¼ tsp cayenne pepper 4 boneless, chicken breast halves
1. In a small saucepan whisk together ketchup, orange juice, vinegar, molasses, mustard, paprika and cayenne pepper. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, lower to simmer, and cook 5 more minutes. Set aside
2. Coat a grill with cooking spray, then heat to med-high. Cook chicken for 6 minutes, turn and cook an additional 6 minutes. Brush both sides with BBQ sauce and cook for 5 minutes more. Remove from heat. Serve with remaining sauce.

Garden Pasta Salad:
 1 C. Green beans halved
2 carrots, penny sliced;
3 C. cooked pasta – bow tie, rotini, fusilli, penne (I always use 100% whole wheat);
1 summer squash, thinly sliced;
1 small green zucchini, thinly sliced
½ red bell pepper cut into thin strips
½ yellow bell pepper cut into thin strips
½ C grape tomatoes, halved
¼ C fresh cilantro finely chopped
¼ C chives finely chopped
¼ C purple onion, finely diced
½ C fresh or frozen peas
Dressing:
4 T white vinegar;
2 T olive oil;
3 T pasta cooking water;
1/4C fresh basil;
1 tsp Dijon mustard;
b1 garlic clove, chopped

1. Blanch beans and carrots for 3 minutes in boiling water. Drain well and set aside. Use the same water to cook the pasta al dente. Drain pasta. Reserve 3 T cooking water for the dressing. Place pasta in bowl with carrots and beans. Add remaining salad ingredients to the bowl.
2. Whisk together dressing ingredients. Pour over salad and mix well.

Spiced Peach Crisp:

5 medium peaches, peeled, pitted and sliced

2 Tbsp honey

½ C plus 1 tsp 100% whole wheat flour

½ tsp ground cinnamon

½ C old fashioned oats (not instant)

2 Tbsp Brown Sugar

1 tsp ground ginger

¼ tsp cardamom

¼  tsp Real Salt

2 tsp plain Greek Yogurt

3 TB butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350. In a large mixing bowl, combine peaches, honey, 1 tsp flour, and cinnamon.

In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together oats, remaining flour, brown sugar, ginger, cardamom, and salt.  Mix in yogurt, then butter; stir until oat mixture is moistened. 

Pour Peach mixture into a 1-quart baking dish and top with oat mixture.  Bake for 35 minutes or until filling bubbles around the edges and a knife inserted in the center meets no resistance.  Let sit 10 minutes before serving.  Enjoy!

Do you need a perfect 4th of July dessert?

before you break out the cake or brownie mix.  Check out this recipe from Artful Homemaking:

here.  I am going to try making this.  My friend, Melanie says she makes it every year and it is her go to 4th of July recipe.  I might try a different frosting tho, I'll let you know!

How much did I save by price matching?

My great mom dilemma is trying to make healthy meals that my kids (and my husband) will eat and still stay in budget.  So 3 criteria:  Healthy, Kids like it, Not too expensive....seriously it's mission impossible!

 I saved pennies here and pennies there by price matching the produce yesterday for a grand total savings of $3.63 of 20.58 or 17.6%.  The apples were the biggest contributor because I price matched them at $0.50/lb from the Buy Low ad.  The regular price was $1.25.  I saved $2.73 on my 3.64 pounds of apples.  I didn't save a lot on price matching, but I still think it's worth it.  I hate to say it, but I think that Walmart has the best price on most things.
On my total bill I usually save 10-20%  which is usually about $10-$20 a week or about $60/month on average.  It takes me less than an hour to price match.  I usually do it on Sunday night when the kids are in bed.  Here is my process:
1.  Write down main meals for the week
2.  Write down the ingredients that I'm missing at the bottom of the page
3.  Go to the grocerysmarts.com website and select "all in one)
4.  I push ctrl F (Find) and search for all of the ingredients on the bottom of my list one by one. 
5.  I write down the prices for those and what store it comes from.  I usually write S for Smith's.  FM for Fresh Market ect..(I don't price match Albertsons or any stores too far away) 
6.  I push "start"  and then "stock up sale"  and then "shrink".  Now I get to see the best deals from the week.  I fill in my menu with the produce that is on sale.  (and the apples, bananas, and broccoli which we have on a weekly basis.
7.  I look for things that we regularly buy and write it down too (spaghetti noodles, tomato sauce, chicken broth, tortilla chips, ect)  This is to add to my stockpile.
8.  I check the Buy Low ad separately because it is not on grocery smarts.  It appears Rancho is going out of business.  

Oh and I do plan on tracking my produce purchases for this week without any consideration for what Bountiful Baskets was giving out.  I'll let you know how much I spend.  

My Bountiful Basket Experiment

Is Bountiful Baskets really cheaper than the grocery store?  I have been getting a basket for a while now and I wanted to do a price comparison between Bountiful Baskets and price matching at Walmart.  The produce from Bountiful Baskets is the same as what you would find in the grocery store unless you get the organic basket.

My Friend got the following in her basket this week:

1 head Califlower
1 head Brocolli
2 heads Lettuce
2 Cucumber
8 Small Red Potatoes
4 Tomatoes
3 Onions
3 Avocados
1- 6oz case of Blackberries
1  Mango
1 Honeydew
5 Bananas

So I went to my ads and found the following price matches:  I wanted to do this for any random week, when there was any kind of sale on the above items.  I didn't really buy all of the quantities of the items, but I bought at least 1 and then multiplied the lb for 1 by how many my friend got in her basket. 

1 head Califlower  $0.88/1b   .82 lb @ $0.88/lb   = $0.72
1 head Brocolli      $0.88/lb   .82 lb @ $0.88/lb    = $0.72
2 heads Lettuce  (Romaine)    2@1.74 each         =  $3.48    
2 Cucumbers                         2@$0.50 each        = $1.00
8 Small Red Potatoes                                           = $0.74
4 Tomatoes                            1.76lb @ $0.78/lb  = $1.36
3 Onions                                1.8lb @  $0.48/lb   = $0.85
3 Avocados                                 3@ $0.68 each = $2.04
1- 6oz case of Blackberries                                  = $2.50
1  Mango                                                             =$0.68
1 Honeydew                                                        = $2.50
5 Bananas                             2.4lb@$0.52/lb      = $1.25

Total :  $ 17.84 +tax @3% =    $18.38

The Bountiful Baskets is $16.50.    So even if I got the Romaine lettuce it wouldn't be that much more than the basket.  And at the grocery store I can buy what I want and like.  I can buy specific produce for my salads and I don't get stuff I don't like or don't need.  (I really don't need 4 tomatoes this week.)

Here is what I really bought:
1 lb strawberries $1.50
1 head Romaine  $1.74
1 yellow onion     $0.28
1 red onion          $0.57
1 tomato              $0.34
5 bananas            $1.25
2 limes                 $0.40
10 gala apples      $1.82
1 mango               $0.68
3 avocados          $2.04
1 bunch cilantro    $0.29
1 lb baby carrots  $ 0.88
3 brocolli crowns  $1.04
2 Cucumbers        $1.00
5 lb bag red pot    $1.47
Honeydew            $2.50
Red Grapes          $2.50
Total:  $20.58
= 21.20 with tax.

Yes, I eat a lot of produce.  My kids are more likely to eat the carrots, grapes, and apples than the extra head of lettuce, tomatoes and onion.  I spent about $5 more than the bountiful basket and I bought some things extra just for the price matching experiment (like the mango and the honeydew). 

Cheater smoothie

I like smoothies because they are a great way to sneak in healthy veggies that I don't eat very much. But sometimes smoothies can be some work getting the fruit out and cutting it up. So on some days I use prepared smoothie bags an add some greens. I only buy the smoothies that are just fruit because i dont like the added sweeteners or yogurt. i can easily add my own greek yogurt or kefir. I like it because I already know that the fruit in the smoothie is going to taste good together. The kids like them way better than my own concoctions. They like em so much that I usually only get a sip before someone takes over my glass.
Here is my list of add-ins.
2 Tb very green powder
1/2 C plain Greek yogurt
1/2 c kefir
1 handful kale leaves
1 handful spinach leaves
1Tb ground flax seeds.

I don't use all of the add-ins. I usually add the green powder, either yogurt or kefir, and either spinach or kale depending on what I have.

PR and #1 female finisher

Wuhoo!  I ran our stake 5k in 22:50 and was the #1 women's finisher!   All those intervals paid off!