No More Excuses! Helpful Tips for Creating a Home Gym

If you want to improve your fitness, you need to join a gym right? Wrong. While many people believe that a gym membership will help them get fit, it’s not the only option. Creating a gym in your home can be a fantastic alternative to joining a gym. It can help you to get fit, is more convenient and can save you both time and money. But many people overlook having home gyms because they think traditional gyms will benefit them more. So if you’re unsure whether you should cancel your membership and create a home gym, read these compelling reasons to help you decide. Personally, I love building on to our home gym. We have a weightlifting platform, kettle bells, my spin bike, medicine balls, and more. These really eliminate the opportunity to give the good ole' excuse of "I don't have time to workout".

My gym is a work in progress, but I love it!

A home gym can save you money

Gym memberships are notoriously expensive and a waste of money if you don’t use them regularly. Whereas home gyms can help you to save money. While they do require some money up front to buy the equipment you need, they can be created relatively cheaply. You can buy only the equipment you need rather than buying everything your gym has. Sale events and second-hand models can also help you get equipment at discounted rates.

Budget-friendly Tips for Smart & Healthy Meal Planning

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I really think that one of the best ways to keep your menu in check with your health goals is to make a shopping list before you head to the grocery store. Usually on Sunday mornings, my husband and I will sit down together (and solicit input from the kids) to plan our meals for the week before we buy our groceries. We know that on a couple of the evenings, time is hectic due to soccer practice and other activities and these are the nights when we plan to utilize the crockpot, have a freezer meal thawed and ready to be cooked, or we plan to grab a meal out. This really saves us time figuring out what to make for dinner at the last minute and gives us the opportunity to budget our meals based on what is on sale in the ad at our preferred grocery store.  Planning ahead really does reduce a lot of stress associated with last-minute meal decisions (which can often end up in a drive-thru line that costs more and is less nutritious than what could have been planned in advance).

Here are some budget-friendly tips for smart & healthy meal planning:

New Orleans Trip 2016: Activities & Tips!

Alex & I at the Running of the Bulls NOLA 2016

This year’s trip to New Orleans was just so much fun! We definitely tried out some new experiences than years before and are excited to share them with you. When I knew my husband was going to be in NOLA for a conference, the first thing I did was visit the New Orleans Events Calendar for 2016 hand this is where the fun all started. Here is my 2016 list of fun activities and tips for NOLA (don’t forget to review my NOLA Top 10 Here):

1) The San Fermin in Nueva Orleans: The Running of the Bulls Festival in New Orleans.

When I was checking the calendar of events for things to do when we were in NOLA in July, I came across the San Fermin in Nueva Orleans and was instantly curious. Turns out…you can participate in the running of the bulls…but the bulls…are roller derby ladies strapped with whiffle-ball bats!! WHAT?!?! IS THIS THE COOLEST THING I HAVE EVER READ?!? Yes. Indeed it was. Every single person we met was awesome. The drinks were great. The music was great. Everything about this festival was great. We will be back, hopefully every single year, to participate in this event.

We made it to the end of the race!

Budget-Friendly Hamburger Lentil Vegetable Soup

This is a delicious & simple & very inexpensive recipe that you can make as your main dish chocked full of fiber and nutrients!  I'll be surprised if you pay over $10.00 for all of these ingredients. When I was interning at the health department before I became a Registered Dietitian, one of the coolest things I saw was a recipe sheet for people who received WIC benefits but didn't know what to do with the food they were getting.  With this recipe, Mom's were able to put together a nutritious meal using the dried lentils, carrots, and tomato juice they were receiving.  I put this together in a pot for some of the WIC clients to sample and it was a huge hit.  One of my favorite days of my internship.  I still make it often because it FREEZES so well (I always double the recipe because of this) and I vary between adding hamburger and eating it without any meat.

 I hope you enjoy! Makes 6 Servings

2014 Favorites Part Two

Best Cookbook- Eat Vegan on $4 a Day by Ellen Jaffe Jones.  I am not a vegan, however the recipes in this book are outstanding.  I was attracted originally to the budget-friendly approach to eating healthy, and although it can be quite an investment for ingredients up front, the book does a great job breaking down the general cost per serving for the recipes.  The recipes are fantastic.  My favorites are the recipes for tabouli, tempeh-broccoli sauté, hummus, potato pancakes, and my absolute favorite---Coconut "Ice Cream" made with frozen bananas.  Here's a link to more info about this book which would make a great gift for those people you know who love food:  Eat Vegan on $4 a Day

4 Ingredient Swiss Chicken Recipe

Another delicious recipe that tastes better SO MUCH BETTER than it looks!  Here is a recipe that includes 4 ingredients.  How easy is that!  And it is delicious, one of the family favorites that I enjoyed as a kid, where (no offense Mom!) most of our entrees included a can of some-sort of Campbell's soup.  Serve this with some whole-grain biscuits & green beans for a comforting, warm meal.

Baking Time:  35 minutes; Oven Temperature:  375*F; Servings:  4-5 servings (depending on how big your chicken breasts are!  I recommend 5 ounces per chicken breast)

Ingredients:
-One can of Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup
-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
-1 box of Stove Top stuffing
-8 slices of 2% Swiss Cheese

This is so easy.  Make the box of Stove Top stuffing in the microwave.  Spread the can of mushroom soup on the bottom of a casserole dish.  Place the chicken breasts on top of the soup.  Place the slices of Swiss cheese on top of the raw chicken breasts.  Finish by placing the cooked Stove Top stuffing over the Swiss cheese.  Cover the casserole with aluminum foil and place in the over for 35 minutes at 375*F.
For 4 servings:  Calories:  405 calories/serving; Protein:  35 grams/serving; Carbohydrates:  28 grams/serving; Total Fat:  13 grams/serving; Sodium:  837 mg/serving---which you could reduce with reduced sodium products as well! Average price per serving is $1.74.

It will smell wonderful and taste great!  I am sure some of you have a different version of the same recipe and I would LOVE for you to share!

Quick & Yummy Pasta with Veggies & Garlic Bread

Here's a really easy meal for someone who has 20 minutes to make a meal:

• I box Barilla Plus Penne pasta
• 1 container of Philly Cooking Creme (my favorite is the Italian Cheese & Herb)
• 1 small summer squash
• 1 small zucchini
• 4 slices of garlic bread

Start by boiling some water for the penne and preheat your oven for the garlic bread. Cut up the zucchini and summer squash. When the water starts to boil, cook the pasta according to the directions on the box (roughly 11 minutes). While the pasta is cooking, put the garlic bread in the oven, and place 2 tablespoons of oil (I prefer a canola/olive oil blend) and saute the vegetables. When the pasta is cooked and drained, put the Philly Cooking Creme into the pasta and stir. Place the vegetables over the pasta and accompany with a slice of garlic bread. Put a nice crack of black pepper over the pasta and it's ready to go! Serve with a side of fresh fruit or salad for added nutrients and fiber. The pasta makes 6 serving. The nutrition analysis is based on a serving of pasta and a slice of garlic bread: Calories per serving: 396; Total Fat: 12.5g/serving; Protein: 16g/serving; Carbohydrates: 55g/serving; Fiber: 5g/serving; Sodium: 470mg/serving.  Also, I bought the box of pasta on sale for $1.00, one zucchini and one summer squash for $1.38, Philly Cooking Creme on sale for $1.50, and the garlic bread for $0.99 for a total of:  $4.87.  That is $0.81 per serving!

White Chicken Chili - CrockPot Style

This recipe tastes a thousand times better than it looks!  Testimonials from my family:
Husband: "I would pay money for this in a restaurant"
Youngest Daughter:  "This is better than Panera's soup" 
Sometimes it's nice to have a delicious chili simmering in the Crock Pot & when you walk in the front door after a long day of work you think "man...not only does the house smell awesome, but dinner is done!"  I really hope you give this recipe a try!  Here's what you will need:

• 8 ounces of boneless, skinless chicken (about 2 breasts)
• 2 (15 ounce) cans of great northern beans
• 1 (15 ounce) can of white hominy OR 1 (15 ounce) can of white corn
• 1 (1 1/4 ounce) package of reduced-sodium taco seasoning
• 1 (4 1/2 ounce) can of chopped green chilies
• 1 (10 3/4 ounce) can of condensed cream of chicken soup
• 1 (14 ounce) can of reduced sodium chicken broth
• Toppings:  2 TBSP per serving of sour cream, chopped green onions, & I always like to add a sprinkle of Tortilla Strips

Directions:

• Place chicken breasts in the bottom of the slow cooker
• Cover the chicken with beans & hominy
• In a separate bowl, combine the taco seasoning, chilies, condensed soup, & chicken broth.  Pour over the ingredients in the crock pot.
• Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours
• Before serving, shred the deliciously moist chicken and return to crock pot & stir
• Serve with 2 TBSP sour cream, green onions, and tortilla strips, if desired.

Nutrition Facts (chili makes 8 servings):  One serving with sour cream and green onions contains 280 calories, 16 grams of protein, 37 grams of carbohydrate, 7 grams of fat, and 768 mg sodium.  If you want to reduce the sodium(salt) content, replace hominy with white corn.  This chili cost me $7.21 which comes out to $0.90/serving.  That's some savings!  Enjoy!

Thank you Paul Newman

Yesterday I was spending a few minutes printing off some coupons for my weekend shopping trip and when I was visiting www.southernsavers.com I noticed there was a link for a $3.00 off Paul Newman products coupon.  Wow!  I absolutely love their salsa & pasta sauce & especially their Organic Light Balsamic Dressing.  Of course, in all honesty...their popcorn needs a lot of work.  Ick.

So I clicked on the link which brought me to the Newman's Own website:  www.newmansown.com and saw the ad to get the coupon.  The only catch was you had to sign up to volunteer with Volunteer Match.  I had never heard of Volunteer Match but checked it out:  www.volunteermatch.org/nourishthegood and there are so many volunteer opportunities available!  I put Hickory, NC in to the seach and 51 different opportunities came to light.

This was by far the best coupon link I have ever seen.  One of the purposes of this blog is to feed your soul and one of the best ways to feed your soul is to volunteer.  Some of the opportunities even say whether you can bring your children!  My heart grew three sizes coming across this wonderful resource and I hope that you check it out and share it with others as well!

Coupons for Beginners

I love using coupons.  I especially love using coupons when I am buying an item that is already on sale. The problem is, I do not have a ton of time to devote to couponing, in fact, I have completely ignored all of the extreme couponing shows because they will only get me fired-up to taking my thriftiness to a whole new level that I just do not have time for. 

Having my young ladies in the house, I do have some pretty standard weekly staples that I include into my budget.  One is for them:  Simply GoGurt  & One is for me:  Coffee.  And when I say Coffee...I mean fancy coffee.  I don't like your standard coffee (such as a regular brick of coffee, or even a can of coffee).  I like a good grind the beans, let it brew, followed by an "I just stepped out of a Christmas Folger's commercial" cup of coffee.  But with this expensive taste and the increasing cost of coffee, I feel better if I can get a deal on it. 

There are always coupons for Simply Go-Gurt http://yoplait.com/SimplyGogurt/ which is both Mom-the-Dietitian & Kid approved.  The ladies love it as an easy snack because it's fun to eat and it tastes good.  I love it because it's a good dose of calcium & it is a healthy snack choice.  And you can freeze it to trick the kids into thinking they are having "dessert".  Whahaha!

Here are a few of my favorite coupon sites:
For those in the South:  www.southernsavers.com :  This site links the ads to the coupon match-ups.  It's pretty much perfect.  Sometimes you have to sign into a product site to get a coupon, but that works out because often they send you more coupons!

For every one else:  www.couponsuzy.com and http://smartsource.com :  Start saving now!

I am so happy to be here!

This first blog is way over due!  For years I have worked as a Registered Dietitian, counseling people on how to make simple changes to their lifestyles for a big impact in their health, with a little impact in their wallets.  I am a Nutrition Expert with an "all-foods-fit" philosophy, which comes in handy when I have to plan and prepare meals for my family of four.  With two daughters- Hailey, age 10 & Kaitlyn, age 6, we are always busy between soccer, baseball, school, Girl Scouts, that I can understand the desire to reach for convienence foods & fast foods in place of a home-cooked meal.  And with my husband and I both working full-time, even making lunches for the children can be a burden at times.  One of the main purposes of this blog is to educate people that with a little planning and helpful hints, you can feed your family healthy meals that are tasty and filling without putting a dent in your monthly budget. 

I feed my family of four on a weekly budget of around $80.00-$100.00/week.  Sometimes even less!  And this includes the essentials:  paper goods and health items.

On top of having a focus on nutrition, I will also be giving you my honest opinion on other consumer products.  I once had a good friend tell me that now that I am a MOM, my focus is more on "comfort" than "fashion".  In the South, we have a response to something like that ..."well, Bless It".  I believe there can be a mix of both comfort & fashion and will be sharing these tips with you as well.

Welcome to The Honest Dietitian!  I look forward to helping people feed their mind, body, & soul!