Organizing October

Day one of October and first day for my millions of goals. My first task was to meal plan and come up with some creative meals for the week based on what we have on hand as part of my pantry challenge. Nothing added up to healthy meals. I quickly realized that my goal of losing weight was in direct conflict with my pantry challenge goal. How can I clear out my pantry and still be mindful of the food I put in my body? Then it occurred to me. What if I donated the not-so-healthy, sodium filled food items to a food pantry? Do pantries even take perishable items? After a quick internet search and phone call to confirm, I found the answer to be yes. I quickly packed up a cooler full items and headed to the local food pantry. Definitely a win-win! I was able to donate high sodium packaged meat and pre-made casseroles, white bread and Eggo waffles.

Now that I feel less compelled to force myself to eating items I really shouldn’t be. There are still quite a few items I am going to try to cook with this month. The goal of this exercise is both to save money and declutter the kitchen as well. I am going to try my best to make 2-3 new dishes with the ingredients I have on hand each week. Today, I decided to experiment with pineapple. Leaving a party last weekend, a friend gave me one to take home. Pineapple is my least favorite fruit and one of the few items I don’t enjoy eating (call me weird!) Today, I decided to try a simple recipe for roasted pineapple with my daughter.  I replaced the cinnamon with nutmeg since I didn’t have any on hand. We enjoyed making it and it turned out as a pretty tasty afternoon snack.

I am also joining thirty to freedom on her no restaurant challenge for the month of October. As side from my daughter’s birthday, I plan to not eat out at all. I have started a horrible habit of grabbing a quick treat every now and then when I am out. Its time to curtail that! If you find yourself having this issue too, you should join us! Today, I found myself saying no a few times about grabbing food on the go. “No, I don’t need to stop by my favorite salad cafe because I am driving by it.” “No, I don’t need to buy barbecue at the pumpkin patch just because it smells delicious.” “Nope, I don’t need to stop for food on the way home.”

How did I do on my other goals:

15 Days of No Spending	$13 on a pony ride, pumpkins and games at a pumpkin patch playdate with my son.
15 Days of Exercising	None
Health Data	Weight: 144.6 Blood Pressure: 132/87
Drink Coffee	None
Water/Fluids	40 oz: 16 oz of tea, 16 oz water, 8 oz of apple juice