The Sensible Mom - Page 2 of 88

Vegetarian Nachos, Everyday Dairy, and Summer Classics

Written by Sandra on June 10, 2013 · 8 Comments

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias® and Neptune Retail. #EverydayDairy #cbias #SocialFabric

Tortilla chips are pretty much a staple in my home.

We eat them all the time, and with five kids, well, you can imagine how many times a day the kitchen floor needs to be vacuumed as a result. That doesn’t deter us, though. (I just have my 13 year-old son vacuum.) No, we love our tortilla chips, and while munching on them plain is good, creating recipes to eat them with is even better.

Vegetarian Nachos & Everyday Dairy

My latest recipe creation using tortilla chips, black beans, shredded cheddar cheese, veggies, and classic american cheese is vegetarian nachos. This recipe was inspired by a recent trip out of town. During a layover, I was looking for something somewhat healthy to eat in an airport as I waited to catch my flight home to Chicago. I decided to order vegetarian nachos from one of the vendors selling food.

Talk about delicious. Those nachos were sooooo good. I snapped a picture of them with my phone and decided I’d try to make my own version at home. And I did. I’m going to share my recipe with you, but honestly, these nachos are so versatile that you can make them any way your family likes them. You could even add toppings like guacamole, salsa, or pico de gallo.

Here’s my recipe (exact measurements are not necessary):

Vegetarian Nachos

Ingredients

tortilla chips
nacho cheese (see recipe below)
black beans, rinsed and warmed through
romaine lettuce, chopped
tomato, diced
onion, diced
avocado, diced
cheddar cheese, shredded

Instructions

Lay a bed of tortilla chips down on a plate (warm the tortilla chips in the microwave for 15-30 seconds, if desired).
Pour the nacho cheese sauce over the tortilla chips.
Top nachos with black beans, romaine lettuce, tomato, onion, avocado, and cheddar cheese.

http://thesensiblemom.com/2013/06/recipe-for-vegetarian-nachos-and-everyday-dairy/

Here’s the Nacho Cheese Sauce Recipe:

Nacho Cheese

Ingredients

1/4 cup milk (I used almondmilk)
10 slices of american cheese singles
pinch of pepper

Instructions

In a saucepan, heat the milk over medium low heat just until it's warm.
Then add the slices of cheese, one at a time, stirring constantly.
Once the cheese slices have melted, remove the cheese sauce from the heat, and let it sit for two minutes to thicken.
Stir in a pinch of pepper.

http://thesensiblemom.com/2013/06/recipe-for-vegetarian-nachos-and-everyday-dairy/

Saving on Everyday Dairy

In order to create these fabulous nachos, I took advantage of a great promotion that my local Safeway affiliate store, Dominick’s, was having (actually, it’s still going on). They’ve included a variety of ‘everyday dairy’ items in a promotion where you receive a $5 coupon at the register when you spend $15 on participating dairy items. Dairy substitues like almondmilk are also included in the sale. I love that.

You can see my shopping trip (and even a couple of pictures of my family’s recent visit to Chicago) here in my Google+ story.

Summer Classics

After I got home from the store, I noticed that I had brought home foods that were either classic summer foods or ingredients that could be used to create delicious summery meals. Let’s just say my kids were pretty happy.

Here’s a little inspiration for meals or snacks that you might incorporate into your summer routine:

Grilled Cheese

Adult Grilled Cheese

Ice cream bars

Orange juice

What are some of your favorite summer foods? What foods are you most excited about this summer?

You can find even more great recipes and ideas on the Everyday Dairy website. You can also follow Dominick’s on Facebook and Twitter for their latest updates.

( 8 Comments )

Labriola Pretzel Bread: Review & Giveaway! (Three winners)

Written by Sandra on June 8, 2013 · 2 Comments

Thanks to Labriola Baking Company for supplying my family with a delicious bag of pretzel rolls to review
and share with my blog readers. Yum!

If you’ve ever tried pretzel bread, you know it’s an easy-to-love bread.

It’s pretzel goodness — only not in the shape of a pretzel. Labriola Baking Company makes soft and chewy pretzel rolls that, in my house, barely last long enough to get a picture of them.

Labriola pretzel rolls come in a bag of six. I was able to save four of them to share with you in a picture, before they were happily swallowed up by my family.

Although for me, the rolls didn’t stand of chance of lasting long enough to create a recipe with them, they could be sliced in half and used to make delicious sandwiches. I can also see them being a delightful compliment to a creamy soup. There are numerous ways to get creative when it comes to Labriola’s pretzel rolls. These delectable rolls are versatile, so they can be enjoyed in a lot of different ways.

Giveaway Time
Labriola Baking Company is generously giving THREE of my readers their very own bag of Labriola Pretzel Rolls! How great is that?

I know the winners of these pretzel rolls are in for a real treat. There’s going to be a big smile on their faces when they show up on their doorstep.

How to enter
Simply enter this giveaway using the Rafflecopter below. I’ve included options for extra entries, too!

This giveaway will run from June 8th – June 14th at 12:00am. The giveaway is open to US Residents only, ages 18 years old and above. The winners will be randomly chosen. I will promptly send the winners an email notifying them that they’ve won, and the winners must respond within 48hrs. of the giveaway’s end, otherwise I will have to draw a new winner(s).

Enter below!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

( 2 Comments )

10 Goals for the Week

Written by Sandra on June 3, 2013 · 2 Comments

This week, I’ll be heading out-of-town on a short business trip. I’m going to a Disney event, and I’m looking forward not only to the event but also to be able to catch up on work while I’m on the plane and hanging out during layovers.

Keeping this in mind, I’m going to try to maintain doable goals for the week.

But first, here’s what I accomplished last week:

Family/Mothering Goals:

1. ~~Do a fun kitchen science activity with the kids~~ — I’m going to be posting on the science projects we did. They were very neat. The kids had a fun time making magic mud, a bouncy ball, and even a homemade lava light.

2. ~~Play outside with the kids at least 3 times this week~~

Personal Goals:

3. ~~Drink juice or smoothies 2 days this week~~ — A HUGE thanks to my husband for juicing and making smoothies all week. The juicer is not fun to clean, and cutting all the fruits and veggies is really time consuming. Oh, and he does the grocery shopping, too.

4. ~~Read 10 pages of the book Desperate~~ — We’ve started a new family tradition of not using the computer or ipads on Sundays. (Well, at least until around 9pm, when the kids go to bed.) It has been such a blessing to our family. I get my reading done during this time, and I even whipped my ~~pathetic looking~~ coupon bag into shape. The kids are using their imagination more, and the family time has been rich.

5. Workout at least 5 days this week — Exercise hasn’t been going well lately. It’s time to get back on the treadmill.

Home Management Goals:

6. Keep up with de-cluttering our home (getting rid of or donating 7 things per day) — I did this once last week. I ended up getting behind on work, and I wasn’t able to keep up with this. You may be thinking…is it really hard to get rid of 7 things per day? No, it isn’t, but I just let this goal fall by the wayside last week.

7. ~~Clean first floor bathroom~~

Business Goals:

8. ~~Work on client project~~

9. ~~Return emails~~

10. ~~Write 4 blog posts~~

Here are my goals for this week:

Family/Mothering Goals:

1. Make a volcano with the kids

2. Read library books to the little ones

Personal Goals:

3. Drink juice or smoothies 2 days this week

4. Read 10 pages of the book Desperate

5. Walk on the treadmill for 2 hours

Home Management Goals:

6. Clean the master bathroom counter

7. Organize the entertainment area in the living room

Business Goals:

8. Go on a short business trip

9. Return emails

10. Write 4 blog posts

What are your goals for this week?

( 2 Comments )

Weight Loss: Shaklee 180 Video (Month 3 Update)

Written by Sandra on June 1, 2013 · 2 Comments

I just shared my month three weight loss update in a blog post, and today I’m sharing another update in a vlog, which you can watch below.

Weight Loss Journey in Pictures
I think at some point in June, I’d like to share my weight loss journey ‘in pictures.’ I’ve been thinking about doing this for awhile, but I keep rescheduling it on my calendar. I expect to have time to fit it in this month.

I’m going to share pictures of what I looked like when I first started on this weight loss adventure — all the way up until the month of June 2013, where we’re at today. The difference in how I’ve changed is definitely noticeable, but it has taken me well over a year to come this far.

I hope that by sharing these pictures, you’ll be encouraged to start on your journey, if you haven’t already. It takes a lot of time and effort to lose weight in a healthy way, and I want to show you that it can be done…one day at a time.

This is a sponsored post as part of the Shaklee Corporation blogger program. I have received free products, online support, and incentives for participating in the Shaklee Corporation blogger program. My opinions are my own. People following the weight-loss portion of the Shaklee 180™ Program can expect to lose 1-2 pounds per week.

( 2 Comments )

Losing the Baby Fat Weight Loss Update: May Results

Written by Sandra on June 1, 2013 · 6 Comments

It’s nearly midnight, and it’s the last day of May.

I’ve been putting off writing this post for the past week or so, because I haven’t lost any weight. I’ve been getting on the scale each morning hoping to see the numbers go down, but they’re not.

I have absolutely no weight loss to report for the month of May, which is disappointing, but I haven’t actually been doing a great job this past month with my eating and exercising, either.

Reasons it was difficult for me to lose weight during the month of May

Reason #1: I went out-of-town twice this month. And while I did a fairly decent job of choosing mostly good foods, it’s always a challenge for me to eat healthy when I’m away from home. I’ll be going out-of-town twice in June, too, so I need to try to have a better strategy for next month.

Reason #2: My dad came to stay with us for nearly three weeks, which was great! But while ~~indoctrinating~~ helping him to make changes in his diet and coming alongside him to monitor his food intake, food choices, doctor’s office visits, etc… I was very sporadic on the Shaklee 180 weight loss program. I had a shake here and there and the snack bars were great for a quick pick-me-up, but I wasn’t consistent with the program all month long.

I spent a lot of time talking to my dad about food and how it affects our bodies. I also spent a bunch of time in the kitchen, cooking meals and soups that were healthy and satisfying. I made vegetable soup, potato leek soup, and a really fantastic black bean soup. Somehow though, I managed not to lose any weight over the past 3 weeks, even though I was focused on trying to eat healthy when I could.

Reason #3: I may have hit a plateau? I’m not sure, but after working on losing weight for over a year now, I think I may have hit a bit of a plateau. I feel like it’s getting more difficult to lose weight. I weighed 248.5 lbs. in December 2011, and I’m down to 182 lbs. My body used to let go of around 4 pounds a month by simply making wise food choices. Now, it seems like that’s not the case.

The positive side
Sure, I didn’t lose any weight, but I didn’t gain weight for the month, either. I’m at 182 lbs., and there’s a brand new month ahead of me. I’m going to work hard this next week to get back on the track with the Shaklee 180 program and continue on with eating healthy. The treadmill is calling my name, too…

May Results

Here’s what my weight loss progress (or lack thereof) looks like for May:

Beginning weight: 192.5 lbs.

Current Weight: 182 lbs.

Goal Weight for 2013: 152.5 lbs.

# of total pounds I want to lose in 2013: 40 lbs.

# of pounds to go until I reach my goal: 29.5 lbs.

Total # of pounds lost to date: 10.5 lbs.

I’d love to know how you are doing on your weight loss journey. Did you lose any weight during the month of May? If you’ve ever plateaued while trying to lose weight, what helped you kick the weight loss back into gear?

P.S. On Saturday, I’ll be sharing a video update. I’m going to talk about one thing I like about my body and encourage you to think about one thing you like about your body. Stay tuned for that!

( 6 Comments )