2014: Will it and it will

Happy 2014 Friends!!

I hope you all had a great Holiday and a wonderful New Year celebration.

We did something very uncharacteristic of our family: we traveled over break. 

More specifically, we went to Chicago when they had the worst snow of the century.

Danger is our middle name.

We made it there and back ok, though the getting back was the hard part.

But, I think the whole experience is one the kids will never forget:

First cab ride

Seeing Soldier Field, Trump and Tribune Towers, going to Shedd Aquarium, deep dish pizza, seeing the city streets raise to let boats thru.

These are all big experiences to kids, especially when you live in the Midwest.

Next time we go will be a summer trip. There was so much we didn't do because of the weather, but it was a trip none of us will forget.

I don't do New Year's resolutions, do you? I used to but it seemed like I was putting so much pressure on myself to do something that was quite possibly unattainable (lose  100 lbs in 4 minutes, climb Mt. Fuji). You get the idea.

Of course this year I will continue with my effort to lose weight (I really made NO effort last year, though I didn't gain any, I sure didn't put my health first), eat cleaner and help my family enjoy more fresh and less processed foods. 

With the above notion, I am switching up the way I do my grocery shopping. I was killing myself to make a weeks worth of menu's for all three meals and snacks and it always seemed liked I had a lot of food left over. I go to the grocery store what seems like every day now anyway, so I am going to make my lists based on three days at a time, with one big Aldi's shopping day on my way home from work on Sunday's. 

I am going to keep track of how much I spend and if it I am spending more this way, not wasting as much food, etc.

So here's my receipt from today

Went to Meijer for this trip. My total was 83.84 but I am going to subtract $20 from that bcz I had to buy a new coffee maker, ours died New Year's Eve morning.

So, first total is $63.84

We'll see how it goes.

I will post every time I go to the store. Aren't you lucky?

Have any meal planning tips you want to share?

I got an immersion blender for Christmas, so there will be a lot of soups in our future, and maybe smoothies if I can get the kids to drink them.

Right now soup sounds good, crazy cold here.

Ok gang, you all take care. I am off to get on the elliptical for a bit. I have a trial of Netflix and I am hoping watching something while I am on my elliptical will take the sting out of my workouts. If it does, it is worth the $8 a month!!

Happy New Year's and thanks for reading!

Cat