I have lots of thoughts circling my brain, but none of them want to show up on my screen. I have been trying to find ways to feed my family a healthier diet without breaking the bank. Like many of you I have a basement full of food storage and a side of beef in the freezer. I think my challenge is to use what I have and work more fruits, veggies, beans and whole grains etc. into the menu rotation. I have found that a lot of the "trendy" aka lowfat, heart healthy, multigrain, fat free and the like are also very pricey. Dennis and I have been shopping the perimeter of the store and that seems to help as well as reading labels. I still don't fully understand all the nutrition info, but it is easy to spot the variations in the labels, and make the better choice. I try to cook most of my meals from scratch to avoid the preservatives and because I am usually feeding an army (4-9 on the average)but I have found a few short cuts that I am willing to pay for such as matchstick carrots. these are already cut up small, julienned, and they are easy to add to salads, stir fry or soups and they cook fast too. Spray butter. I just can't say enough about this. A couple of sprays and you get the flavor but not the fat or calories. I am still amazed a how full I can feel on a smaller amount of good food than I ever did on tons of junk food.

Class was very informative this week. Sounds like we are all struggling with ideas for good healthy food. On facebook there is a challenge for Utah's heart healthiest recipes. Not too many submissions yet but they pick a winner once a week and they get a free Papa Murphy 's thin delite pizza, at the end there are other prizes. Find them at heart-healthiest 2010 then click on the discussions tab to see recipes. I saw this in the Spanish Fork Press and it is also sponsored by abc4.
I tried the sandwich thins and really liked them. I have tried the whole wheat tortillas, and the flatbread (flatout) and found them kind of icky, but these had a really good flavor and didn't leave me feeling like I missed out on something by substituting.
Still no substitute for Magleby's chocolate cake, but I am finding that the longer I stay away the longer I want to stay away! You know "if I went this long I can surely go longer!" I think this is going to be my new mantra, along with "I KNOW I can."

She's Killin' me!... but in a good way

I thought I was going to die right there on the bike! One more hill she says, just one more hill. Okay, I did do it but just barely. This week the bike is my enemy, but I'll get over it. I have really been enjoying my afternoon walks with my husband, There are two parks with walking tracks within about two miles of our house and even though it sounds silly to drive down to take a walk, we have been doing just that. The big dogs are penned up and there are three little yappy dogs that sound tough but they run when you get close. We also don't have to worry about getting run over by a tractor or a screamin' fourwheeler. It really is peaceful to get out and walk, and after I have said everything I can think of, we just walk in silence. It gives me a lot of time to ponder on things, and enjoy the peace.