Today, let me just reiterate how much I LOVE free stuff. That’s why I’ve started hosting Give-Aways right here. Currently, we are still running the contest for a FABULOUS RECYCLED BACK TO SCHOOL PACKAGE. Click, comment, WIN?!?!?!?! (You must comment on the ACTUAL PRIZE POST to be entered to win.)

Stay tuned for more contests… I am partnering with a wonderful store to bring you the BAG EVERY WOMAN will want. Check back often.

I can’t wait to tell you what I just won…  When it’s in my hot little hands, I will share.

Be Well!

While eating out tonight with Oregon Dad and K-Man, I suggested (in a don’t argue with me manner) that we make a pledge to NOT EAT OUT FOR 30 DAYS. This means, no work lunches or quickie-mart stops. Nothing except good old homemade food.

Oregon Dad just stared at me, like the crazy woman my new driver license makes me look like. Perhaps the photo isn’t far off.

We are doing this for a couple of reasons. 1) I need to lose 20 lbs. 2) Oregon Dad proclaims a desire to lose many more pounds. 3) We spend a FORTUNE eating out, bringing home pizza, Oregon Dad’s work lunch (and breakfast) and his quick mart stops. 4) We eat entirely healthy and natural AT HOME, so why are we putting crap into our bodies when not at home? 5) We set a Wii Fit challenge that each of us will lose 5 lbs in a month… that’s not going to happen unless the eating out stops.

Now, if I can just convince him to give up the ice cream. This man makes it VERY difficult to NOT gain weight.

It’s officially ON starting tomorrow until August 23. That’s probably a couple of days over 30… shhhh… don’t tell Oregon Dad. I get a pass on Friday for lunch with K2 because its her special Birthday outing. Other than that… we are brown bagging it and home making it.

Anyone care to join us with the THIRTY DAY Challenge?

On another note…

I am constantly on the look-out for a natural alternative to Kool-Aide. Let me just say, I LOVE Kool-Aide (but only the red Tropical punch flavor). I could drink it by the quart. When I was pregnant, it was the only liquid I could manage to keep down, so we have a special relationship. That said, I haven’t purchased Kool-Aide in at least a year. K3 CAN’T have it… no red dye (no dye of any kind preferably) and no artificial flavorings or preservatives.

For the most part, we drink WATER. And lots of it. I carry my Klean Kanteen EVERYWHERE. The kids can have one cup each of milk and juice a day. The rest is water. But come on, sometimes you want a treat. There is nothing like a tall, icey glass of the red stuff on a hot summer afternoon.

Enter Clif Kids Splashers Drink Mix. One packet makes 8 ounces and costs about 89 cents. No where near as cost effective as Kool-Aide, but then fake stuff comes cheap. I brought home the tropical punch flavor, of course.

The ratings were good in the house. The flavor is much lighter than that of Kool-Aide and the color is not as intense (read: less staining capability!). K3 LOVED it and the other kids agreed this was a tasty option. I thought it was a bit closer to flavored water than the old flavor I was after, but with a lot less sugar and all natural ingredients… I’m a goner. We will be bringing home the other flavors to try out in the near future.

We will also be trying out Go Stix by Celestial Seasonings. These come in a box of 8 packets for about $4.00. The website also proclaims “Gluten Free”.

It’s great to have the option of tossing these little packets into the lunch box or backpack for a hike. I will have to devise a recycling plan for the Clif Kid packets, as they resemble a juice pack and are not recyclable. Perhaps I see a Clif Kids pencil pouch in our future.

Be Well.

The instigator of today’s post is Absolutely Bananas… so if you don’t like it, blame her! ;)  She’s not literally bananas, or maybe she is.  Regardless, here is my travel horror story.

In the Spring of 2006, My Little Critter had just passed her first birthday and I was dating a man in AZ.   (This was obviously pre-Oregon Dad days.)

Things worked out that LC would be coming along with me for a long weekend visit.  Of course, this meant we had to fly.

I’m not sure I had given much thought to what it would be like to fly, ALONE, with a young child and the plethora of baby junk this entailed.  But, I’m a trooper and figured we’d make due.  So, bright and early in the morning, LC and I load up in my 1993 Ford ’scort wagon (it was HOT, I’m telling you.) and began the 1.5 hour drive to the airport.  Figuring out how to handle getting us (and stuff) from the long term parking lot in B.F.E. was challenging.  But, once again, we managed.  Baby was attached to Mommy in a sling,  Carry-ons strapped to top of rolling suitcase, car seat over Mom’s shoulder via the tether strap.  You get the picture.

That isn’t the story.

Our real adventure came once we were inside the airport, had checked in and were waiting for our flight.  (The VERY nice check in clerk blacked out a seat for LC’s carseat, even though I had only paid for one ticket.  That’s not the story either.)

Once we were at the gate, I realized we had well over an hour before boarding and I had an adventuresome baby-almost toddler on my hands.  The nice ladies at the counter held onto the carseat and other junk I couldn’t carry all over while LC and I headed for some much needed food and beverage.

While walking back from our quick meal (keep the mental image in your head… Mom, baby attached to front in a sling, luggage, etc…).  There is this man standing off to the side near our gate.  He inquires of me, “where you headed?”  I said, “Phoenix”.  He steps a bit closer to me and says, “oh, why don’t you postpone your flight until tomorrow.”  I replied (as we continue walking away), “We can’t.”.  The man was insistent that we could wait a little while to fly out, just stay one more night.  I finally piped up with, “Daddy is waiting for us on the ground… can’t delay our flight.”  Which wasn’t true, but it worked.

My first thought was CREEP.  Trying to either get Mommy to delay so he can get some nasty hotel action on… or trying to steal my baby and sell her on the black market.

I felt a bit shaken and jittery.  We returned to our seats in the terminal and pre-boarded with wonderful flight staff helping out with LC’s carseat and getting us settled.  A few minutes later, when regular boarding commences I stood up in the aisle to rearrange our overhead bin.  That’s when I saw THE MAN, the one from the terminal boarding our plane.  Now my thoughts take a whole new direction.  Why would he be trying to get me to NOT fly (in a creepy not an I’m not wanting to fly with a baby kind of way) when he is on the same plane?  The flight attendants kept stopping by to check on LC and I and coo over how cute she is, etc… so I pulled one aside and told her about our little “incident”.  Pretty soon I had several members of the flight staff around me talking in hushed tones, wanting me to repeat what had occurred prior to boarding.  Our flight was delayed for take off for a good 20 minutes while the pilot was informed and the staff took whatever precautions they felt necessary.  Before take off, a nice attendant came back by to tell me the pilot had decided we were okay to fly and had checked the manifest against potential threats, rechecked the plane, etc…

My stomach didn’t stop doing flip-flops the entire flight.  The flight staff stopped by often to update me or just check in.  Several times some of the gentlemen a couple rows over inquired how we were doing.  I just smiled and said flying made me a little nervous.  I wasn’t about to tell them I thought we might have someone on board with terrorist intentions and cause a panic.

Luckily we landed safely and all is well.  I will never know what that guys deal was.  I know without a doubt that it had NOTHING to do with my having a young child on a very full plane.  There were lots of other children on board and I didn’t see him approach any of the other parents.   I can’t help but wonder if somehow he was moved by this mother and child duo and didn’t carry out whatever plans he might have had.  Or perhaps its was just all some weird coincidence, one that I would like to never repeat.

The real horror story was having to leave my pack-n-play at home because there was no way I could tote that as well.  Where would this baby sleep?

Shamelessly Sassy is my inspiration… cuz I currently have none of my own. Bleh.

There is a giant migraine forming at the base of my skull due to trying to get kids to do their chores. Husband and son are on the way to Seattle for a Mariners game, what fun way shall I find to spend today? Girls vs. Boys on Kabooki, three nights in a row… girls kicking serious Kabooki- Wii Butt! House smells like dirty cat box… must get kids on that ASAP.

It’s getting toward the end of a very busy Friday. Aren’t Friday’s always busy? Around here they certainly are. Lately I have been thinking a lot about the friendships and relationships formed online.

One woman has become a far-away best bud… Meg who owns the Earth Friendly Shoppe. Her and I share a passion for saving the Polar Bears, curing the world of Global Warming and recycling in addition to laughing about the similarities between our two husbands and juggling life with Motherhood.

Steve over at N*ked on the Roof, is a blogging Dad. He rocks. We follow each others blogs and share comment love back and forth on a regular basis.

Then we have Tenille over at Gluten Free Frugal. She is like a warm ray of sunshine, with kind words and a positive outlook. I must say, she is also thrifty and crafty.

What We Need Mom, Darcy has shed lots of light for me on the struggles with my youngest daughter. She is there to listen and offers advice and resources. She also shares funny, touching stories of her adorable and precocious little man, C.

Want to take a peek at some fabulous photos of super cute kiddos? Stop over to visit My Sweet Life. Kelsey responds to EVERY comment I leave on her page.

I know this woman probably gets a lot of love… but I can’t help it. I love her too… plus she is a fellow West Coast-ian… (yes, I just made that up) So go on over and read all about how she is living it up at the Big B (or that which we shall not speak of) right now while I sit in the living room playing Kabooki on the Wii with the fam. Heh… who says my life isn’t exciting.

You know… it still tickles me pink to see myself (or my blog or my recipes) written about elsewhere. I get a little giggle every time. Most recently, Our Gluten Free Family made my donut recipe… hers look REALLY GOOD.

And how about some feel good love. Watch this YouTube video and delight in human nature.

Check back after the weekend to hear all about MY TRAVEL HORROR STORY. Until then, be well.

Warning– This post is NOT GLUTEN FREE… reading may induce GI symptoms. Don’t forgot to enter to win the AWESOME RECYCLED BACK TO SCHOOL PACKAGE.

On our most recent shopping trip to Whole Foods, Oregon Dad was along for the ride. This is usually a bit disconcerting for me, as I could spend hours (literally) roaming the aisles at Whole Foods, reading labels and checking out new products. Sometimes I park myself at the customer service counter to browse the Gluten Free Product List and question the staff.

While meandering our way through the store, K3 (who is with us, since this is primarily HER shopping trip) spies each sample pod and inquires if “that one is a safe food?”. Sadly, many of the foods out are not, but that doesn’t stop Oregon Dad from having a nibble here and there.

We came across 365 All Natural Sandwich Cremes (like those Oreos… only better). Oregon Dad tried one out, then decided he needed a potty break. K3 and I headed to the Gluten Free Bakery/Freezer section to locate some bagels. When Oregon Dad found us, he was toting a box of the cookies. Evidently, he decided they were too good to resist.

Today, I tried them. Even though I knew my belly would cry afterward… I still have to consume gluten so that my biopsy is accurate at the end of the month. Oh my goodness, they were MMMMMMM…. Good.

Now if I can just find a Gluten Free variety… There is NOTHING like a glass of ice cold (Organic) milk and a couple (or 6) tasty, all natural, creme cookies. I cannot even consider putting an Oreo to my mouth anymore and they used to be one of my favorites. Now, I just taste wax and chemicals if I try to eat one. Bleh.

For my GF girl who saw Mommy eating cookies today, we busted out the Pacific Natural Foods Almond Milk and some snickerdoodles from Enjoy Life. I REALLY need to try out this chocolate chip cookie recipe from Ginger Lemon Girl.

Today’s Green Tip- Don’t take your husband shopping with you… he will buy more than you have on your list. Just Kidding… sort of. Get rid of all the crud in your food. Do you really want to eat things with names you cannot pronounce? Didn’t think so. These cookies are proof that being Healthy Green can taste familiar too!

The idea of buying clothes for Little Critter to wear for the next 8 weeks is a bit daunting. Especially since back to school shopping looms just around the corner.  (By the time Sept. 15th arrives, it’ll be too chilly in our part of Oregon for shorts!)

My options- go to Target and buy a few pieces from the $4 table and Costco to grab a couple pair of light weight jammies. (And accept that a minimum of $50 is gone on essentially disposable clothing.)

Or- chop up her old stuff. Now that’s an idea I like much better. I cut three pair of old leggings off (which were in the Goodwill pile) and zigzag stitched the hem. I also converted two pair of Carters Sleeper Jammies into sleeveless short jams. LC LOVES them. I adored the cute brown/white and pink/bright pink dots on the jams and didn’t want to part with them. This gives us more time to enjoy them. At the rate LC grows, they might also fit her next summer.

The only sewing I did on the jams was to zig zag stitch back and forth across the bottom of the zipper (since I had cut off the zipper stop). Then I took pinking shears to trim the legs.

I also divested several shirts of their long sleeves. Little Critter had several shirts that were made to look like a long sleeve was layered under a tee… I simply turned those inside out and cut off the long sleeve portion.

Unable to skimp on shoes, I brought home an adorable pair of brown suede with pink trims Peanuts from the employee store yesterday. ($18 vs. $35 retail). These fabulous shoes, with Sensory Motion System built in is close to walking barefoot and yet provides a good amount of protection. Little Critter is stilling wearing her size 12-18 month Robeez (a good investment at $28 ) which I purchased well over a year ago, but she also needs a pair of regular shoes since she is an active 3 1/2 year old! Oy, I am excited to see on the Robeez website, the booties now come in sizes 2-3 yrs and 3-4 yrs! We have been lucky that they ran on the big size and LC is small… but this is great news as she is about to wear out the pair she has.

Today’s Green Tip- Repurpose your clothing whenever possible. (Think beyond what I have posted, quilts or blankets out of favorite baby clothing that was stained- just use the unstained pieces or using a little RIT dye like Tenille over at GFF.) What you cannot repurpose or reuse donate to a shelter or second hand shop so they don’t end up in the landfill.

Look what I found… this is titillating.

Why is this so exciting to me? You see some silly old juice pouches. I see a fabulous way to reuse something that has thus far escaped recycling and resides for hundreds of years in the landfill.

What is it? It’s a pencil pouch. You know, the cute little thing your child fills with pencils, erasers, sharpener and stuff into their desk or locker. And just how many of these do you think will be in your child’s school? Probably not as many as I would like to see! It feels relatively durable, after all, those foil pouches are pretty hardy. This pouch CAN BE YOURS. Read on. (If you don’t win, Terracycle has made these and they are available at most Target stores in the school supply section.)

Now, there are some pencils. The blue ones are made from RECYCLED DENIM. I’m so excited I almost wet myself. The white ones are from RECYCLED NEWSPAPER. Can you believe it??? (If you don’t win, these pencils along with some biodegradable pens are made by SRX Green and available at Target with the school supplies.)

My Children will be using O.P.P (Other People’s Paper), shouldn’t yours? Look how cute the 100% recycled paper notebook and folder are? Just adorable. Not to mention what a great way to make our youngsters remember to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle (The Three R’s as my 8 year daughter informed me this afternoon, as in, “Duh, Mom… don’t you know that?”.) Now, I’m not 100% happy with these for a simple reason, we all know that recycled paper is, well, brownish. This is very white. So, it has been bleached. Then, I don’t know that #2 lead would show up very well on brownish paper, or that Teachers would allow it in school. But still. Instead of the folder actually being brownish… like a paper bag, it is screen printed (or whatever method they use) to get that look. Not quite as cool. (Once again, for those who aren’t lucky enough to win this fabulous package, these are also available at Target in the school supplies section. Also available are a 3-ring binder and composition books… I haven’t yet found recycled notebook paper, but I’m betting its out there.)

This entire “Recycled Back to School” Package can be yours FREE. Just comment to win. The winner will be selected on August 1, 2008 and posted here! Be sure to check back to claim your prize. I will draw one winner and two runner-ups, if the first winner doesn’t claim the package within 3 days of contest end, prize will go to the first runner-up who will then have 3 days to claim before package forfeits to second runner up. Open to residents of the United States and Canada only, I am unable to ship overseas. However, I will ship to our military with an APO (Because you guys ROCK).

Today’s Green Tip- Buy recycled school supplies whenever possible. Just think about how many trees lose their lives to make pencils and papers for our children. (Or for those who have seen Wall-E, consider how long those supplies take to biodegrade!)

My children do not like to get dressed.

This goes against the grain. (My grain that is, not theirs.)

I like things done in a certain well ordered manner.

They often disagree.

I win. Because, I’m the Mom. ‘Nuff said.

Today, I re-evaluate.

I realized that this week I haven’t washed nearly as much laundry as usual. Today I actually washed NO laundry.

Let’s back track for a moment, on any given (normal) day I will wash at least three loads of laundry.

Today I simply removed one load from the dryer.

There is the start of a load waiting in the laundry room. I do not wash loads unless they are FULL (often over-full) because it saves water and energy that way. I can actually see my laundry room floor.

I did a little Happy-Dance.

Then I realized, this is because my children have been staying in their pajamas all week. When they do put something on other than their PJ’s, it’s swimsuits to play in the pool. Those swimsuits (and the towels) then get hung up to dry and re-used the following day.

Mommy was wrong. You may stay in your pajamas all day long. I don’t care if you wear the same ones for a week straight. Just please, put clean undies on every now and then.

Green Tip???? Don’t you get it? Just stay in your jams. That’s it. Save the world by washing less laundry. (Ok, maybe not the world. You will save a little water, some soap, energy and Mum’s sanity.)

The emails have been rolling in asking what our favorite meals are, how do we save money on GF meals, how to get kids to eat the GF foods, etc… so, I am finally getting around to the post in which I will attempt to answer these questions!

Getting the kids to eat GF isn’t hard. I simply make foods they like. I serve fresh fruits and veggies whenever possible and I offer dip. If the children are resistant to something new (like new bread, waffles, pancakes, etc…) I simply cut them into fun shapes. I have figured out that if they can dip it or it looks fun to eat, they will probably eat it!

Budgeting is a HUGE issue in the Polka Dot House. We spend a FORTUNE on groceries. (Not kidding $900-1200 a month to feed this crew of 7 plus the strays that wander by.) My goal is to keep us at $200 every two weeks for our major Costco shopping trip, $100 each two weeks for the runs that are not our primary run (Whole Foods, Fred Meyer, etc… ) and $25 a week at the Farmers Market for fresh produce. I will have to re-evaluate once fresh produce isn’t locally available. So, these figures should keep us at $700 a month for our crew or $100 per person each month. I feel strongly that this is realistic. If anyone knows of ways to save even more, I would love love love to hear!

Now that we have covered the disgusting amounts of money that we spend on food, let’s look at some of the new (and not new) menu items we are cooking up to meet this budget.

Our breakfasts are pretty simple. Cereal or bagels or eggs. On the weekends I might get crazy and make pancakes, waffles, biscuits and gravy or donuts. We can usually feed the crew for $5-$6 at breakfast. A common breakfast would involve a dozen eggs scrambled with a spatter of shredded cheese and a side of applesauce or fruit. We buy non- GF cereals at Costco, we can get a box of Life or Cheerios that will do 4-5 breakfasts for about $6. GF cereals are a bit more expensive, Arrowhead Mills Organic Maple Buckwheat Flakes are our current favorite, a 12 oz box runs about $3.69. To put this in perspective, that Buckwheat cereal box would feed the kids for one breakfast. Only the kids. The kids (and Mommy!) love to have steamed rice with cinnamon, sugar and milk for breakfast as well.

Lunch can be mega cheap, some days we cook up 3-4 packages of Ramen style noodles (.15 per package), toss in a couple eggs and a couple slices of diced up lunch meat. Other days its Mac and Cheese or PB&J Sandwiches. Lunch can often be handled for $3 for the crew this way. (I often have to improvise part of the meal for the GF peeps, such as using plain rice noodles like A Taste of Thai and adding Wheat Free Tamari.)

For lunch today, the kids had a small organic spring salad w/ organic baby carrots and cucumbers, a GF, all natural hot dog and a few red cherries. This might sound like a more expensive meal, but it wasn’t. The hot dogs were the left over stragglers from a previous dinner. We purchase the salad mix at Costco in a one pound tub (that’s a lot of Organic Spring Mix, lasts about a week) for $3.99. The organic carrots come in a five pound bag at Costco for $4.99.

We try to keep dinner at or below $10. This requires some creative cooking. Here are the next SEVEN days of dinners in the Polka Dot House.

GF Tator Tot Casserole (We use 365 brand tots, Health Valley Organic Cream of Mushroom Soup, fresh broccoli, cooked diced chicken or ground turkey, shredded cheese blend) For our GFCF girl, I usually prepare a separate small dish of this using a GFCF gravy mix in lieu of the soup and omitting the cheese.

Burrito night- corn tortillas and corn flats (or Mission Corn Chips), refried or pinto beans, steamed white rice, ground turkey/beef (if you mix this with the pinto beans prior to serving, you can use much less meat or even sub TVP without anyone being the wiser!) and salsa. Adding rice to the burritos is inexpensive (about .48 a pound since we buy in 50lb bags) and adds a good filler to the meal.

Pasta- Tinkyada Pasta Joy Brown Rice Pasta Little Dreams (one 14oz bag for $2.99 feeds the whole family), 1/2 -64 ounces jar of red pasta sauce (2- 64 oz jars at Costco for $6.49) and one pound of ground beef ($2.80, we purchase 5- 1 lb rolls at Costco).

Spring Rolls- Using Banh Trang Spring Roll Skins ($1.99 for 40, covers at least 2 dinners), steamed white rice, diced chicken or cooked shrimp, lightly saute cabbage and grated carrots (bagged coleslaw mix works great for this and covers several dinners), other veggies of choice, I usually open a can of mushrooms-drain and grill then add to inside as well.

Rice and Gravy- Health Valley Organic Cream of Mushroom soup and ground beef/turkey served over steamed rice. Can also be served over biscuits or toast but is not as inexpensive to do GF that way!

Chicken and Rice- steamed rice, cooked diced chicken thighs (frozen, boneless), veggies. Serve with Tamari Wheat Free Soy Sauce.

Breakfast Burritos- One dozen eggs, 6 breakfast sausage patties (or one roll turkey breakfast sausage if on hand), grated cheese, tortillas and salsa. Everyone that isn’t GF uses flour tortillas, I am working on a really good GF tortilla… so far they are too much crepe like or corn. K3 doesn’t mind corn tortillas, but I would like variety.

We seldom have leftovers. I do try to make enough to send some in Oregon Dad’s lunch the following day. If we finish everything, then he gets sandwiches. All of our meals are accompanied by either salad, raw veggies and ranch, fruit, applesauce or a combination thereof.

Currently snacks are a big issue in our house. On the search for kid friendly GF items… I spend more than I should! Since our kids go to school instead of staying home for school (still working on Oregon Dad about that one!), I have to pack lunches and snacks EVERY DAY during the school year. I want the kids to feel like the fit in with their classmates, especially our GFCF girl. Her diet is hard on her at times, especially when she can’t have the classroom treats, etc… I always want to make sure we have special foods on hand in the classroom for those days, and that her lunch box doesn’t look that different. I am getting major sticker shock though and looking for ways to cut cost here! We purchased a 48 count box of Nature Valley Granola Bars at Costco (Not natural, don’t let the name fool you!) for our non-GF kids. The cost break down was .23 per bar. That’s not bad for a snack. In comparison, all the snack bars I have been picking up for K3 at Costco come in 15-20 count boxes with an average per bar price of .97-$1.29. Ouch. This is just one of the many reasons I am so thrilled with Stretch Island Fruit Leathers. We buy the 48 count box at Costco, they are all natural and 1/2 serving of fruit each. The price break down is about .23 each. You can’t buy half a piece of fruit for that! They are easily portable and fun to eat.

I will post our Costco shopping list sometime later this week. We shop at Costco for several reasons. Buying in bulk saves packaging and is more environmentally friendly. We have a large family and it makes sense. I don’t have the time (nor am I going to waste the fuel) to run all over to separate stores looking for the best price. We can find most of our staple foods at Costco and fill in what we don’t find in a weekly run to a local (although more expensive grocer). Since we buy ALL Natural and a lot of organic foods in addition to being gluten free, it is hard to be a coupon shopper. When I find coupons that work, we use them.

Today’s Green Tip- Shop Smarter. Plan your shopping trips to use the least amount of fuel. Buy in bulk whenever possible. You will save money and its better for the environment. Remember to recycle the packaging.