Feed 3 For $50 a Week: Comeback Edition

So we all know I haven't been blogging on a regular basis but I find it awesome even in my absence Feed 2 for $50 series is still generating over a 100 hits a day! We are all trying to save a little money and seeing those stats has encouraged me to continue to share my meal plans and grocery buys with you. But a few rules have changed:

1. $50 week/$200 a month on groceries to feed all 3 of us for breakfast, packed lunches for work and dinners (Laila is off purees).
2. Separate budget categories will be given to baby items, paper products (includes household cleaners) and pet supplies. Grocery items will be purchased separately for tracking.
3. Monday posts will show what I bought and how I plan on using it.
4. One takeout meal a week is allowed and is not counted towards the $200 total.
5. We shop at both Aldi and Kroger w/ coupons to get the lowest prices.

I've decided to move towards an overall $200 a month total budget to give our family some flexibility. I'm also planning a garden this spring (eek!) and utilizing a type of food co-op program I recently heard about.

I didn't take a picture this week but we only spent $16.23 and we are building off of a pretty well stocked pantry though our frozen meats selection is a little slim. 

Breakfast

Brown Sugar Instant Oatmeal, DIY Breakfast Bagel Sandwiches, Bagels w/Cream Cheese, Cereal Bars, Cream of Wheat & Fruit

Lunch

Turkey or Ham Deli Meat, PB & J, Leftovers, Mac & Cheese, Turkey Franks, Mini Veggie Ham Quiche served with choices of: chips, fruit, yogurt, Cheesecake and Lemon pudding cups, string cheese, baby carrots & celery and granola bars

Dinner

Sunday Brunch
Rustic Twice Baked Potato
Broccoli
Garlic Bread

(Mainly) Meatless Monday

Chicken Enchilada Soup
Cornbread

Tuesday 
Simple Crock Pot Chicken
Mashed Potatoes
Tossed Salad

Wednesday
Taco Pasta Bake
Broccoli
Cornbread Muffins (leftover from Monday)

Thursday
Italian Grilled Cheeses
French Fries

Friday

Takeout

Saturday
Spicy Apple Glazed Meatballs
Copy Cat Chipotle Cilantro Lime Rice




Happy Meal Planning!

And I'm back...

I've been poked, prodded, urged and encouraged to start writing again.

And I want to. So, here I am. Spruced up in my legging with the hole in them and a new color scheme for the blog.

My how I've missed you and needed you. Life has moved at lightning speed since we last spoke. No I didn't do Weight Watchers. Actually, I've tried 3 other diets since I thought about joining WW and haven't stuck with any of them for longer than 4 days. Friday night gets me. Friday night is pizza and wine and snuggles. Saturday morning always gets me too with the sugary cinnamon rolls and waffles and salty bacon that I had to have just one more piece of. And then there is Sunday, sweet lazy Sunday with ease of trying out new recipes and casually stuffing whatever I can in my mouth as I revolve through the kitchen.

Enough about my weight, I've never been very kind to myself about it and I don't want to spend my first conversation with you talking so negatively.So let me tell you what about what else has been going on.

Darling Laila

Can you believe her first birthday is right around the corner? I mean look at her!

9 teeth and walking! Truly a delight and the apple of my and Daddy's eyes. She's rotten and she knows it but she also gives the best hugs so we gives her a bit of a pass on some of her tantrums. What's that you ask? How is planning for her 1st birthday party coming in just a litte of 24 days? Ha! What planning? Of course when Pinterest introduced "secret boards" I immediately made one for her birthday party so her theme would be a surprise to everyone. Who am I kidding? Y'all know the only theme I follow is procrastination.

But if you are in the neighborhood you are more than welcome to stop by and eat some of my mother's fried chicken and have yourself a Costco cupcake. There may be a shortage of decorations but not of love.

Our Marriage Project

I Love My Husband. We have been through so really rough times these last few months with the new house, new worries and new schedules but we came out on top. If you are my friend on Facebook you know he and I did 28 Days of Love for the month of February, similar to the Thankful Project often seen during the month of November. Everyday with the hashtag #ILoveMyWifeBecause he would list a reason  for the whole world to see. You know how you ask your significant other, "but why, why do you love me?" this was like Candyland to that insecure girl who didn't feel worthy of his love. I'm not sure what it was about the few lines everyday that I needed to hear but they did both my heart and my head good. Josh and I have grown stronger in our love and friendship. I probably won't continue the Marriage Project as weekly series but may visit it from time to time just so it is not left as a project unfinished. Do I think couples need to set aside time and put forth an effort to make each other feel special? Absolutely. I would just say that you don't necessarily need a book to tell you how to do it.  Do what feels natural - and then do a lot of it.

Our Home

Well we have been moved in for  3 months and still have a ton of projects to complete but things are getting there. The place is starting to feel like home.

On the Work Front

Josh starts at the local hospital on Monday! We are all so excited for him because it is exactly the job he wanted when he finished his STNA course last October. It took some time for an importunity to come his way and we were just starting to get discouraged, he is on his way to starting his nursing career! As for me, I started with a new company in January, I still work at the union, who hired a Benefit Administration firm who in turn hired me. I've taken this move on as a fresh start. Even though it has been hard days during the transition I'm giving it my very best because there is just so much room for advancement. My professional confidence has been growing by leaps and bounds.

My Faith

For Christmas my mother and sister gifted me with a Mom's Bible. After a particularly hard day as I laid down to bed I reached over and grabbed it and just starting reading from page one. Really, I need to devote a whole post, and I sure I will, but I can not tell you how much my heart has opened up when I started pursuing a real relationship with God. I'm a work in progress, will always be, and my faith is getting me through.

So that's about it for an update.

Team Hodson is back. I won't be writing 5 days a week, life is just to busy for that right now but I am hoping for at least 3.

Thanks for stcking around.

Wishing you love and light,

(Fad) Diet Friday?

Love Happily. Live Simply. Lose the Weight.

Seven easy words to say but how hard are the principles behind these words going to be to live by?

Hello, I'm Shanna and I'm a food addict. And that is my problem with diets. I love food. I love the chewy pull of hot cheese on pizza, the creamy texture of desserts, the crunchy bits of fresh baked bread. I love the experience of food. So diets that cut out whole categories of food are like taking away my dearest friends.

After much hemming and hawing I have finally decided to join Weight Watchers.

I know, I can hear you. The program is expensive and it is only going to work if I work the program. I have talked myself in and out of so many things.

But I have to stop trying and start doing.

It is a journey.

A process.

One step at a time.

Wishing you love and light,

You know there comes a point when you have to stop thinking and you have to start doing something.

I knew my weight was a problem. I'm a big boned girl who had back to back pregnancies. I don't even want to figure my BMI right now, it is enough for me to know that I am only 10 pounds down from my highest weight during pregnancy.

I kept saying, "I'll start being healthier with the new year".

And I am.

But as a reminder of myself, this is what I look like.

This picture was taken a few weeks ago. I had no idea this is what I truly looked like. I look at this picture and just feel so sad for myself. Because even though I have the biggest smile on my face I see how unhappy I really am about my body image.

This isn't about some fad, some new "thing" I want to do or blog about. This is really about my life. For the first time as an adult my weight is truly an issue, not only for my own personal image but for my health. 

It is time for a reset.

Love Happily.

Live Simply.

Lose the Weight.

This is my 2013 vision board.

I wish you all a very happy new year and may all your dreams and wishes come true.

Lots of love and light,

I'm here....

Things have been hectic.

I never want ti move again.

Love, Peace and Hodson will be back in 2013.

Bigger and Better than ever.

No seriously.

(Cue some ACDC for the theme music.)

Wishing you love and light in the new year,

see you in 2013,

Put on your Happy Face

You know I haven't been around to write a post for several reasons. 

1. We still haven't had a chance to have internet installed. It has slipped my mind, got juggled around in the never ending shuffle of priorities and typing out a post on my phone would be difficult for me and you both, you would need a secret code to decipher my ranting from all the typos.
2. I'm exhausted. Every spare moment is consumed by this move. Everyday at lunch there are errands to run, donations to Goodwill to make and phone calls upon phone to place. Sometimes I even get a chance to eat.
3. My thoughts are to scattered. I believe that if I sat down to really write about my feelings I may come off sounding like a full on lunatic. 

So...with that said this is the kind of foolishness I have been dealing with since the move.

That is the toilet from the full bathroom where my stove was supposed to go.

This was the scene we walked into on moving in day. Because the floor wasn't laid yet. On the day we moved in, people. It was 5:30 at night before we got working toilets in the house.

Foolishness.

 And things just getting better worse from there.

Wishing you lots of love and light,

And no toilets in your kitchen,

Fun Day Friday

Things have and will be a little quiet around Love, Peace and Hodson the next couple of days while we move.

I can't believe we move tomorrow, we are so not ready.

I can't believe Christmas is in two weeks, we are so not ready.

I can't believe life is changing so much, we are so ready!

I can't wait for the new year to start. I can't wait for the new house, the new job, the new us....

We will be getting back into our routine.

The will be more on Our Marriage Project, definitely some more date nights...

There will be tons of home projects and DIY's to try.

There will be lots of new menus to plan.

I can't wait for Josh and I start our couples reading suggestions. We have both recommended books to each other in the past and (hopefully) us reading the same book together will become a regular thing. We need more to talk about than babies and bills. He loves the Ken Follet and is currently reading the Century Trilogy, didn't you just love Pillars of Earth? And I have always wanted to read a couple of John Steinbeck's, for pleasure this time, so I've suggested East of Eden and Grapes of Wrath.

Even though I barely have enough energy to keep treading water today is Fun Day Friday.

Laugh to keep from crying from the frustration. Tomorrow is a brand new day. So, let's have all the fun we can have today, shall we?

Even if our house is in complete disarray and I couldn't find a pot to cook in if I wanted to.

Have a wonderful weekend guys.

Lots of love and light,