Today I cooked up some steel-cut oats ($1.59 a lb) and a little corn meal ($1.09 a lb) for my breakfast. Mom and I ate it, but the kids stuck to cereal. Steel cut oats are a little odd - they have a very different texture from "regular" oatmeal - even though they get nice and soft, you have to chew them as you're eating. Somehow, the chewing is very satisfying and I got really full on one bowl, where I could usually eat two of Cream of Wheat or quick oats. Good stuff! I guess that's why those damn liquid diets just don't work very well. I gotta have something to chew!
I changed up my medicine lately (Lamictal instead of Prozac for my bipolar disorder) and it affects my appetite and cravings in a weird way. How? I haven't been craving sweets or Diet Coke like I used to. I mean, I still like them and I'll eat them once in a while, but it's not like "I gotta have a soda and some Oreos right now!" I guess I was using those things as mood lifters when I was dragging. Wow. Stablizing body chemistry is awesome!
Monday, November 9, 2009
Saturday, November 7, 2009
The joy of grocery shopping!
Grocery shopping is about the only shopping I ever get to do, so I try to enjoy it to the hilt!
My food stamp benefits finally came through (honestly, I'm not a bum!) so I went to two different stores on the cost spectrum. One was the Healthy Grocer, which is pretty pricey. I stocked up on gluten free foods and baking items so we can try Catie out on the gluten free diet. I've wanted to do this for a while, but I had to wait until my benefits came through because all those gluten free items cost a lot more than their wheat-based counterparts. I kept it as low as I could by buying the individual ingredents by the pound whenever possible (I also bought liquid rennet so I can try making cheese!).
So after getting all the specialty things we headed over to my favorite store, Aldi. Best. Store. Ever. Yes, there are some things that they just don't carry, but for prices on staple goods like eggs, milk, bread, sugar, canned goods, etc., you can't go wrong. Everything is fresh, unlike Amelias Grocery Outlet, and the store is only 4 aisles wide. The Healthy Grocer isn't too much bigger, though I think they have about 18 aisles because they're laid out differently.
We actually have a Wegmans grocery nearby, where I could get everything I need at one stop and probably save some money on a few items. One problem. The damn place is the size of a Wal-mart, packed with every food imaginable - I can't handle the size, the level of choices, the inevitable whining from my offspring... It's better to hit two smaller stores that are close to each other and home. With Aldi especially, I know exactly what they carry, what the price is, and where it will be. I don't have to navigate with a guide map to find eggs - they're in the first refrigerator door, they only sell dozens of large eggs, and they cost .79 a dozen. It's nice to have the choice of free-range, brown or Omega-3 enhanced, but I never buy that kind anyway. When I need eggs, I just need eggs. (Though I must admit free range pastured eggs taste fantastic!)
Back to the shopping - we are totally stocked on every kind of baking item you could need, and our shelves are groaning. It's a comforting feeling to know that we have food.
My food stamp benefits finally came through (honestly, I'm not a bum!) so I went to two different stores on the cost spectrum. One was the Healthy Grocer, which is pretty pricey. I stocked up on gluten free foods and baking items so we can try Catie out on the gluten free diet. I've wanted to do this for a while, but I had to wait until my benefits came through because all those gluten free items cost a lot more than their wheat-based counterparts. I kept it as low as I could by buying the individual ingredents by the pound whenever possible (I also bought liquid rennet so I can try making cheese!).
So after getting all the specialty things we headed over to my favorite store, Aldi. Best. Store. Ever. Yes, there are some things that they just don't carry, but for prices on staple goods like eggs, milk, bread, sugar, canned goods, etc., you can't go wrong. Everything is fresh, unlike Amelias Grocery Outlet, and the store is only 4 aisles wide. The Healthy Grocer isn't too much bigger, though I think they have about 18 aisles because they're laid out differently.
We actually have a Wegmans grocery nearby, where I could get everything I need at one stop and probably save some money on a few items. One problem. The damn place is the size of a Wal-mart, packed with every food imaginable - I can't handle the size, the level of choices, the inevitable whining from my offspring... It's better to hit two smaller stores that are close to each other and home. With Aldi especially, I know exactly what they carry, what the price is, and where it will be. I don't have to navigate with a guide map to find eggs - they're in the first refrigerator door, they only sell dozens of large eggs, and they cost .79 a dozen. It's nice to have the choice of free-range, brown or Omega-3 enhanced, but I never buy that kind anyway. When I need eggs, I just need eggs. (Though I must admit free range pastured eggs taste fantastic!)
Back to the shopping - we are totally stocked on every kind of baking item you could need, and our shelves are groaning. It's a comforting feeling to know that we have food.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Homeschooling lite
Well, we're keeping Catie home, but she'll still be in public school. How do we manage that? The wonder of cyber charter schools! She's starting in Agora k12 as soon as we can process the paperwork.
The upside - prepared curriculum, all materials provided (including a computer and printer), a teacher assigned to help her, she can work at her own pace, field trips, days out, and I can help her without wondering if I'm leaving out a crucial piece of information.
the downside - it is a public school, so she has to log in on school days or face attendance problems. Although she only has to spend about a quarter of her time on the computer, she has to log 900 hours of "school time" in the year - that means a log book chronicaling all the days activities. It still is a good bit of work for me, but not as much as homeschooling.
addendum - Mom was still willing to teach Catie, but her schedule is such that I need to be able to take over the instruction time for 2-3 days in the week. Besides, the quality of these programs online is such that if we went out to buy them as homeschooling materials it would cost two appendages and an internal organ.
The upside - prepared curriculum, all materials provided (including a computer and printer), a teacher assigned to help her, she can work at her own pace, field trips, days out, and I can help her without wondering if I'm leaving out a crucial piece of information.
the downside - it is a public school, so she has to log in on school days or face attendance problems. Although she only has to spend about a quarter of her time on the computer, she has to log 900 hours of "school time" in the year - that means a log book chronicaling all the days activities. It still is a good bit of work for me, but not as much as homeschooling.
addendum - Mom was still willing to teach Catie, but her schedule is such that I need to be able to take over the instruction time for 2-3 days in the week. Besides, the quality of these programs online is such that if we went out to buy them as homeschooling materials it would cost two appendages and an internal organ.
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