{hi}

Now that it's official, I just wanted to take a quick minute to say hi! I'm Jill and I'm the new owner of LobotoME! I'm so excited meet everyone and share my adventures as I ditch the corporate world for working from home, more time with my kids and maybe learning to cook??

First, allow me to tell you a little about myself. Yes, the two cuties above are my kids. They are three year-old twins Gabriel and Debra. They are all things sweet and difficult at the same time. I'm looking forward to introducing them to a less frazzled mommy who is not always running to work, late picking them up at daycare or shuffling them off to bed so I can open my laptop.

I also have a loving and supportive husband named Shawn. Together we own a Baskin Robbins and are preparing to open a second location. Our store was doing fantastic until we had a minor setback in the form of a small fire. Luckily, the damage is not as bad as the news makes it out, but we'll still probably be closed till October. Did I mention this happened the morning after I left my corporate job? Not the best timing!

In my spare time, I also run a Beachbody business. I love the idea of helping people reach their weightloss and fitness goals. I'm hoping that I'll be better equipped to this as I take more control of my schedule.

For now, I look forward to sharing my adventures as I learn to manage my time, build a successful home business or two, organize my house and take more control of the things that happen at home. Starting with... a meal plan for the week.

I know we all with Jenny the best of luck putting on races and enjoying life after LobotoME. I'm sure we'll be hearing from her soon!

As a final note, as the tenth anniversary of 9-11 is upon us, I can't help but worry about the time when my kids will start to ask about this tragedy or the subsequent war. I'm saving this post to help me know how to talk to them.

{ feed ME - take note & prep }

What's in my fridge this week - lots of veggies, fruit, eggs, water and lean proteins. (click on it to enlarge image above).

I clean out the fridge and reorganize it each Sunday so I don't forget about the stuff in the back before it goes bad. I like to store leftovers and prepped food in clear glass containers so its easier to see the contents.

On Sundays, I also take note of what we have on hand, make up a meal plan for the week. Before I plan the meals I look at the calendar and develop a realistic weekly meal plan around our schedule & commitments for the week. I then do my one grocery shopping trip a week (usually 2 store stops) and prep the food for the week ahead (cut up veggies, fruit, etc).

Our weekly Feed ME meal plan this week:

Monday - BLT's & lentil soup
Tuesday - spinach, tomato whole wheat pasta with salad
Wednesday -salmon, brown rice & edamame
Thursday - halibut with roasted veggies
Friday - out after taking kids to rec center (healthy mexican food at ZIA)
Saturday - at friends house
Sunday - veggie chili (from freezer) or leftovers

This weeks goal: Drink more water and more green smoothies. Stay healthy! (I've been sneezed, drooled & puked on all week by my little guy who has been sick).

{ inspired ME }

Inspired to make /find / create the time to do this {photos - a week in the life of ME} project.

Inspired to plan a vacation here for 2009.

Inspired to be debt free so I can take vacations here anytime I want.

Inspired to tackle some more decluttering projects prior to the holidays.

Inspired to keep doing what I'm doing and to live well.

Inspired to get back in the kitchen after a summer long hiatus.

Inspired to turn our shed into a chicken coop in the spring. Thanks Jora for sharing this photo of your coop!

Inspired to go pick apples this weekend.

What are you inspired to do this week?

{ green to grow }

Loving these bpa-free bottles.

At the bottom of the bottle it says {all gone}.

Good style and good for the baby & the environment.

{ yumME }

This is what we are making for dinner tonight.

Recipe & photo from Domino.

{ 4th of July salad }

What I always bring to 4th of July BBQ's

4th of July Salad...
1 Bag of Spinach or Arugula Salad Mix
1/2-1 cup of Sliced Strawberries
1/2- 1 cup of Sliced Blueberries
1/4 cup of Feta or Goat Cheese (I tend towards the goat cheese more)
1/4 cup of slivered Almonds
2 TBS of light Vinaigrette (I like to use a light raspberry vinaigrette)

Hope you all have a happy, safe & relaxing long weekend!  

{ healthy grocery shopping tips }

The typical American consumer hits the grocery store at least twice a week. Why, then, does it feel like we never have anything to eat at home? Follow the advice below to make sure you not only have a well-stocked pantry for healthful eating, but are buying the right products at the right time in the right way. One of the things I like to do before even setting foot in the store is evaluate what I have in the fridge, pantry & freezer to use for meals that week. While doing that I like to clean out any "old" or "unhealthy" stuff that is in there. Starting "fresh" each week with a clean refrigerator helps ME.

1. Rule number one: Buy fresh food! There is no simpler, no easier, no plainer measure of the healthiness of your food than whether it comes in boxes and cans or is fresh from the farm or the fields. If more than half your groceries are prepared foods, then you need to evolve your cooking and eating habits back to the healthy side by picking up more fresh vegetables, fruits, seafood, juices, and dairy.

2. Shop the perimeter of the store. That's where all the fresh foods are. The less you find yourself in the central aisles of the grocery store, the healthier your shopping trip will be. Make it a habit -- work the perimeter of the store for the bulk of your groceries, then dip into the aisles for staples that you know you need.

3. Plan your meals. Use your Feed ME meal planner pad. Look through your fridge, pantry & freezer & see what you have left that you can use for meals during the upcoming week. You can type a few ingredients into google and it will produce a variety of recipes you could make from those products on hand. Planning your meals out in advance keeps your grocery costs down and helps you avoid take out food during the week.


4. Shop with a list. Use your Check ME grocery shopping list. Organize your shopping list based on the tip above -- that is, by the sections of the store. This will have you out of the supermarket at the speed of light. By keeping yourself to the discipline of a well-planned shopping list, you can resist the seductive call of aisle upon aisle of crappy junk food, thereby saving your home, your family, and yourself from an overload of empty calories.


5. Food-shop with a full stomach. We're sure you've heard this one before, but it's worth repeating. Walking through the grocery store with your tummy growling can make you vulnerable to buying things you shouldn't. If you can't arrange to shop shortly after a meal, be sure to eat an apple and drink a large glass of water before heading into the store.

6. Buy a few days before ripe. There's no point in trying to buy fresh vegetables and fruits for your family if the bananas turn brown and the peaches mushy two days after you get them home. Buy fruit that's still a day or two behind ripeness. It will still be hard to the touch; bananas will be green. Feel carefully for bruises on apples, check expiration dates on bagged produce, and stay away from potatoes or onions that have started to sprout. If the produce on the shelves looks a bit beyond its peak, don't walk away; ask to speak to the produce manager. Chances are, there's a fresh shipment in the back just waiting to be put out on store shelves. For a real taste treat, if you're going to eat them within the next couple of days, pick up a bunch of vine-ripened tomatoes. There's just no comparison.

7. Buy in season. Sure, it's tempting to buy strawberries in December, and once in a while that's fine. But fresh fruit and vegetables are best when purchased in season, meaning they've come from relatively close to home.

8. Buy organic whenever possible. Sure, it costs a few dollars more. But a study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry found that organically grown fruits and vegetables contain higher levels of cancer-fighting antioxidants than conventionally produced foods.

9. Buy frozen. Frozen fruits and vegetables are often flash frozen at the source, locking in nutrients in a way fresh or canned can't compete with. Stock your freezer with bags of frozen vegetables and fruits. You can toss the veggies into soups and stews, microwave them for a side dish with dinners, or thaw them at room temperature and dip them into low-fat salad dressing for snacks. Use the fruits for desserts, smoothies, and as yogurt toppings.

10. Stock up on canned tomato products & beans. Here's one major exception to the "fresher is better" rule. Studies find that tomato sauces and crushed and stewed tomatoes have higher amounts of the antioxidant lycopene than fresh, because they're concentrated. Canned tomatoes are a godsend when it comes to quick dinners in the kitchen. Warm up a can with some crushed garlic for a chunky pasta sauce; pour a can over chicken breasts and simmer in the crock pot; add to stews and sauces for flavor and extra nutrients.
Beans can be mixed with brown rice, added to soups and stews, pureed with onions and garlic into hummus for dipping, or served over pasta for a traditional pasta e fagioli.

11. Avoid products containing: Aspartame, Acesulfame K, Dextrose, Evaporated cane juice, High fructose corn syrup, Hydrolyzed protein, Maltose, MSG, Niacin, Partially hydrogenated soy bean oil, Sucralose. Thanks Shane for that list!

So what are you all cookin' up this week?

{ cool treats for hot days }

We made a batch of yummy, homemade popsicles this week...SO much healthier than store bought ones that have artificial sweeteners & preservatives in them.

We used some of these recipes that I found in Body & Soul Magazine.

And then I made up a recipe using 1 cup organic, plain yogurt; 1 cup frozen organic fruit (we like blueberries); 2 TBS whey protein powder; 1 cup ICE; 1/2 cup pomegrante juice and 1 packet of powdered stevia.

But my favorite Popsicle recipe is a smoothie recipe I make - GREEN smoothies!
1 banana
1/2 cup mango
handful of fresh spinach
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup ice
1 scoop of whey protein powder
Mix in blender!

Voila! A YUMMY green smoothie! Sam loves it just as much as I do. We make it for breakfast often! And now, it makes great popsicles too!

We use these star shaped molds.

{ FUN }

Okay, so I know I posted this morning about living more fully with less stuff...But I had to make the 1.15 hour trip to Target today for supplies for Sam's super duper late birthday party on Saturday (long story short the gymnastics center where we wanted to have it was booked out way far in advance). So her party with her friends is on Saturday (only 21 days late)!

Anyway, found the adorable bag above on sale for $11.99.


Found some cute eco friendly journals and file folders for my office.

And got this book - will let you know what I think when I get around to reading it.

And, hello, dollar aisle at Target - princess crowns; wildflower seeds; magnets; arts supplies & cute journals. It really is a good thing there isn't a Target in my town because I would have a difficult time not accumulating stuff we don't need! :-)

This weekend I am going to do some spring cleaning (not fun); Sam's bday party festivities (FUN), devouring my new issue of Cookie Magazine (FUN); organizing LobotoME files (FUN); a bike ride with my friend Jamie (FUN); and catching up on accounting (not fun). Hope you all have a great weekend! Don't forget to build in some time for YOU, FUN, and PLAY!

ps - here is a great post about wholesome food & dinnertime family rituals on Mariel Hemingway's blog. hope it helps continue to inspire all of you to feed yourselves & your family good, organic, non-processed, healthy food.

{ a whole lot of YUCK }

Spent yesterday at Sam's school volunteering for their Health & Nutrition Week - I taught yoga to the kids & teachers and had lunch with them. The kids lunches made me CRINGE. See above photo of one little boy's lunch.

Contents of gross lunch #1:
1 cup of leftover mac & cheese - 8 grams of sugar
1 package of Yogo's (yogurt covered something) - 15 grams of sugar
1 box of Hi-C juice - 32 grams of sugar
1 Go-Gurt smoothie thing - 20 grams of sugar
1 peanut butter granola bar - 11 grams of sugar
1 lime jello fruit snack thing - 14 grams of sugar
Grand Total: 100 grams of SUGAR!

I don't mean this to be MEAN, but seriously, we wonder why Type II diabetes among kids is on the rise; we wonder why kids are hyper and prescribed ADHD meds; we wonder why kids are overweight....? We need look no further than the food that they are consuming!! I try to give parents the benefit of the doubt that they are doing the best they can, but can't we do BETTER than this!?!?! Afterall, the kids can't go grocery shopping for themselves.

In contrast, here's what was in Sam's lunch (see photo below). Note: This lunch took ME about 2 minutes to prepare.
1/2 sandwich - multi-grain, sprouted bread; turkey; provolone cheese; avacado; tomato and a bit of veganaise
1/2 cup of edamame beans & some baby carrots
1/2 cup of fresh, organic strawberries
1 bottle of filtered water

Here is a picture of Sam & I teaching the kids yoga.