Challenge Day 5 and Day 6

Day 5-
I did not plan a menu for Day 5 because I knew that Tony's birthday party would take all day and I knew I wouldn't want to cook. I will make mention however of the awesome sandwiches I made. I found this great garlic and Parmesan french bread at the store. We topped them with roast beef, ham, turkey, cheddar cheese, pepper jack cheese, provolone and Swiss, lettuce and tomatoes. They were the hit of the party.

Day 6 -
Pretty uncomplicated day. Running late for church so everyone got a banana for breakfast. Then the youth from church had a lunch fundraiser (lasagna) and so we ate at church and brought one home with us for dinner. Very simple meal with absolutely zero preparation on my part (My favorite kind)

Reflections - Day 3

Today was a good day. Maybe it's because my husband came home and I felt a little sanity return. It was one of those days that made me rethink this whole idea. I was tired, it was late, we had softball, I have a birthday party to plan, etc. I was really wishing I had some corn dogs to heat in the microwave for dinner and just be done with it. However, I didn't and I stuck with my plan. Chicken sandwiches by far were not the healthiest alternative for my family. Barbecue sauce is not one of the main food groups. I went with all natural sauce because everything else has HFCS. (If you don't know about HFCS you can read this article). You can make your own sauce, though. Who knew? Not me. I will next time though. I eat barbecue sauce with everything. I'm not a ketchup kind of girl. But now it's late and I am putting an end to this very long day. Until next time.


*** In case you noticed that this post was posted on Friday it's because I was so tired that I forgot to publish this post. Did you really expect anything less?

Reflections - Day 2

This little experiment has proven to be harder than I thought. The recipes are simple enough, it's the things that I didn't think I would miss. I snuck to the store and bought a soda (shhh... it's our little secret). It was that or down the cooking sherry.

This house was in chaos today.

It's in chaos everyday, but today was a chaotic exception.

I should have known how the day would go when I failed to wake up in order to make breakfast and the kiddos helped themselves to Honey Nut Cheerios. Rather than beat myself up I'm glad that I had a semi-healthy alternative for them to choose from. The rest of the day challenge-wise was great.

The Buffalo Chicken Wraps were "off the chain", by that I mean they were delicious. The spaghetti took a while to make but I think if I go with canned tomatoes next time it will be much better. I know, it's not container-free but not all foods that come from a can are horrible. And sometimes, let's face it, if it's sanity versus convenience I'm choosing convenience (in moderation).

I for one am looking forward to tomorrow and all it's yummy goodness.

Reflections- Day 1

Well, hmmm. Today was the first day of this little experiment. It was a crazy day in the house for sure. I have never done so much preparations for that many meals before. If I wasn't rinsing or chopping something I had something on the stove. Craziness. I just don't think I've gotten my rhythm, yet. Plus, I had to run to the grocery store in the middle of the day with all of the kiddos. That's enough to make any sane person want to throw in the towel. All in all, though, I count today as a success. I succeeded in my goal. I limited the amount of pre-packaged and pre-prepared food my kids ate. That was my goal going in. I realize that just because it isn't in a package doesn't make it good for you. But an egg in a piece of toast at home beats a McMuffin from McDonald's any day in my book! Plus, my kids actually drank water today! I know! I couldn't believe it myself.

I have posted all the recipes on the blog. I am in no way a professional - blogger or photographer but I hope to show everyone that if this busy mom of six kiddos, who's culinary skills are severely lacking, can make wholesome, loving, semi-nutritious meals for her family (and on a limited budget) than yay... I have achieved my goal.

Good night and God bless.