Mama Guilt Monday-Things I adore about Jackson

I am sharing my Mama Guilt as part of a series hosted by Cop Mama. If you have your own guilt you would like to share, head on over to Cop Mama or simply post in my comments.

My Mama Guilt for today is that I use this blog to share my frustrations about my son's picky eating habits and have never included the things I adore about the kid. In fact, I had planned to write a post about the recent battle we had over eating, but instead I am going to share some of the things that make Jackson such a joy in my life. Hopefully, if he reads this when he is all grown-up, he will forgive me for sharing all the times he did or didn't take a bite of chicken.

• I love that Jackson's favorite song is "Run to You" by Lady Antebellum. I can't help but smile when he sings it with as much passion a 5 year old can muster.
• Jackson never took to a security blanket (no matter how hard my mother tried!). Even as an infant, though, he would reach up and stroke my hair. To this day he will reach for my hair when he is sad, tired or nervous. I have a friend who finds this creepy (like the dude from Charlie's Angels II), but I love that I am his security blanket.
• I downloaded the Mama Mia soundtrack as soon as it was available and played it in the car every chance I got. Jackson now knows every ABBA song by heart and when he heard I was seeing the movie, he asked to come along. I told him it was a grown-up movie and he would not be allowed to talk in the movie theatre at all! His response: "Or sing?"
• Jackson has always shown an interest in drawing. At preschool you would always find him in the "coloring center". We took him to Hollywood studios one year and he sat through an animation class (he was the youngest person in the room). I witnessed a light-bulb go off in his little head. He could learn to draw things. We bought him a book on how to draw Mickey Mouse and he hasn't stopped learning since. He can draw well beyond his age and has since said he wants to be "an artist" when he grows up. Who knew your children could have talents you yourself don't posses?
• I can get Jackson out of a grumpy mood by simply playing any Rascal Flats song.
• I am in awe by the look of determination and confidence in his eyes when he is swinging a baseball bat.
• He brings me the most joy when I see his compassion and love for his little brother shine through. He is a friend to Wrigley in the truest sense of the word. They say that a person's true character is defined by how they behave when they think no one is looking. When they think I am not watching, I witness my son treat his little brother with kindness, love and respect. Of course, there are times when I witness him push Wrigley for no reason, but hey-he is human:)

The list could go on, but I am sure you are now thinking of the million reasons why you adore your kids. And, hopefully you are smiling...

Follow Me Friday!

I love One 2 try, Hearts Make Families and Midday Escapes for stating Follow Me Friday! When I started blogging, I found that it was very therapeutic and was a way for me to stick to my guns about getting Jackson to eat healthier. I then realized that it is really just my diary if no-one reads the darn thing! Follow Me Friday has given me a whole list of blogs that I now follow, as well as, given me a few followers of my own. I am amazed daily at the incredible mothers out there who are sharing their stories, tips, activities, guilt:)

If you are reading my blog for the first time, let me tell you that it is ever changing. I started the blog as a challenge to myself to tackle my son's picky eating habits. I found, though, that I had a lot to get off my chest:) You may find a great recipe, proof that some "expert" parenting tips work or don't work, funny stories and a picture of my triumphs and struggles as a mother.

Happy following-you are in for a treat as there are some amazing blogs out there! Also, if you have a blog of your own feel free to link up!

Taco Night!

Tacos are usually high on the list of things that kids will eat. Not my kid!

As part of our healthy eating, I am trying to limit the amount of the proccessed foods we consume. So, I made my own taco seasoning rather than using a taco seasoning packet. I don't know how much more nutrious mine was, but it was fun experimenting. I used chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper and cilantro. Tasty, but still needs work. Hmmmm...I could have read the back of one of those seasoning packets....next time!

Jackson does not like to try new meats. Shocking, I know. He wanted to eat a tortilla with cheese, but I insisted that I sprinkle some of the taco meat in the wrap. When I say "sprinkle", I mean barely put any meat at all in the tortilla. Most humans would not even be able to decipher between one taco with the meat and one without. My son, however, is apparently not human. Either that or his taste buds have some sort of super strength. Long story short, he went to bed hungry. I also added my strawberry/bannana mixture on the plate in hopes that seeing it two nights in a row would encourage him trying. Not so much. That is an "expert" tip I have heard many times-they may refuse a food once, but if they keep seeing it on the plate thay may become brave and try it. I will keep including it with dinner as Wrigley and I like the mixture very much!

One thing that did work for me was to have Jackson write our menu on his chalkboard while I made dinner. This kept him busy and gave him a chance to try and spell some words he wasn't familiar with. He enjoyed that portion of dinner, anyway:)

Works for me Wednesday- Bribing for Brotherly Love

I am linking up with We are that Family for What works for me Wednesday. Who couldn't use some great advice/tips/treasures that are tried and true! Head on over to We are that Family and check out some of the other blogs!

What works for me is bribery! My kids can occupy themselves with one, or several, of the many toys/games/coloring books in the house until the moment I need to focus my efforts on dinner. Then all of a sudden they want my undivided attention and will do what they need to do to get it, which usually involves arguing/fighting each other.

My oldest is really into the concept of money lately and I am using it to my advantage. The other night as I started dinner, I told them that if they would clean up their playroom (which was in enough of a disaster to get me through cooking) they would each get .50C. Jackson, of course, got excited (Wrigley got excited only because he saw Jackson cheering. Coins are just shiny round things to him.) I then explained the rules. One quarter was for cleaning the room. The other would be given if they could get through the cleaning without fighting! They had to work together to get the room in it's original state. This was a flash of genius on my part. Normally clean up time is filled with tears, yelling, things getting thrown. My youngest doesn't quite understand the part about doing his share of the work. He likes to play with the toys while his brother is trying to put them away. With a quarter up for grabs, my oldest worked with Wrigley and showed him how to clean up rather than yelling at him the whole time. It was so nice to hear them giggling while cleaning rather than arguing. So far this week I am out $2, but SO worth it!!!

Asian Apricot Glazed Chops-Success!

Like I have said before, I am not the best cook. I try though. Even when a meal turns out horrible (wait for future post about my inedible dinner on Sunday), I still pick up my spatula and keep trying. I am finding that cooking can be learned. For awhile I was thinking it was a gift that some people had and others weren't so lucky. But, the more I cook and watch the Food Network and read cookbooks, I am discovering that cooking is actually pretty cool. Cooking mixes science with creativity. As long as you know some basic "rules", you can add your own twist and create something really tasty!

One cookbook that has taught me a lot is Better Homes and Gardens Anyone Can Cook cookbook.

The first tab of the book is titled: Intro to Cooking. The rest of the book is dedicated to recipes and each recipe page directs you to the portion of the "Intro to Cooking" tab that contains useful information related to that recipe. Genius! The other great thing I love about this cookbook is each recipe page lists the: calorie, fat, chol, sodium, carbo, fiber and fat information. Very useful when you are trying to slim the waistline!

One of the best meals I have prepared so far is the Asian Apricot Glazed Chops. I substituted some of the ingredients due to not being able to locate the Asian chili-garlic sauce at our store. Best part about this recipe is that Jackson ate the pork chop!!!! At least he ate 1/4 of the pork chop! He really didn't put up a fight either. Score!

I served the meal with a Steam Fresh package from Green Giant and strawberries and bananas sprinkled with sugar and honey. Neither of which Jackson ate. Enjoy!

Asian-Apricot Glazed Chops (adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Anyone Can cookbook):

1/3 apricot preserves

2 tablespoons Asian Ginger dressing (original recipe calls for 2-3 tablespoons of Asian Chili-garlic sauce)

2 teaspoons soy sauce

dash of ginger (orignal recipe calls for 1/4 teaspoon, but the dressing I used already had ginger so I didn't want to overpower)

4 boneless pork sirloin chops , cut 3/4 thick (I just grabbed what was in the meat case at Publix)

Oil for pan (I used olive oil)

*For glaze, place apricot preserve, dressing, soy sauce and ginger in small bowl. Sprinkle both sides of chops with Salt and Pepper

*Heat oil in skillet and add in chops. Cook over medium heat for 8-10 minutes (or until internal temp reaches 160F). Turn once through cooking and spoon sauce over chops.

*Spoon any remaining sauce over chops prior to serving.

Shea

Mama Guilt Monday-God's Grace

Today is Mama Guilt Monday hosted by Cop Mama. If you have your own guilt you want to share or want to read others, link up at Cop Mama or post a comment here. We all have some Mama Guilt-Let it out:)

I have so much Mama Guilt I don't even know where to start. First and foremost, I fed my kids Macaroni and Cheese for both lunch and dinner yesterday. In my defense, the dinner portion was not planned this way. The healthy dinner I had planned turned out to be an inedible mess and the only option I had for them was leftovers from lunch. Jackson, for some reason, did not mind one bit!

The second guilt I have been feeling lately is that I am too hard on myself and I am too hard on the kids. I am in a constant state of disapproval over myself. I feel as if there is some cosmic judges panel (much like the American Idol panel) that is constantly evaluating me as a person. I often tell my husband that I feel like I am letting someone down, but I don't know who that person is. I don't think it is God, because I am pretty sure that He doesn't care that I watched The Biggest Loser instead of mopping the floor during Wrigley's nap. I don't know why I even bother watching it since the whole time I am thinking I should be doing one of the many things on my to-do list. That is just the tip of the iceburg of the things I beat myself up about. I am afraid that my kids perceive that I am in constant disapproval of them also. I hope not, but that fear is always there. I lecture a lot and am constantly correcting behavior. I want them to be the best that they can be, but do they know that it doesn't matter if they aren't? Do I express my unconditional love enough?

We learned in church today about God's grace and how He gives it freely-we don't have to earn it or be perfect versions of ourselves to receive it. I know this really isn't news, but hearing it yesterday made me feel relieved. I felt so liberated in the knowledge that I don't have to be perfect to receive His grace. I don't need to apologize for my inadequacies all the time.

My goal is for my kids to grow up knowing that they receive my grace without any strings. I told them (probably too many times) yesterday that good or bad behavior- it doesn't matter. I love them no matter what! Hopefully my actions will match my words more often and that will keep their future selves out of the therapy chair saying "Nothing was ever good enough". I do that a lot when I am an imperfect mother-envision what they will say to their future therapist. That is healthy, right?

Follow Me Friday!

It is Follow Me Friday! I great way to get introduced to some fabulous blogs and to gain more followers. Click below to join!

Thanks to the following blogs for hosting: One 2 Try, Midday Escapades, and Hearts Make Families.

Yummy Sweet and Sour Chicken!

This recipe was so good that I am posting about it even though I didn't even attempt to have Jackson try the food. We had a crazy Saturday and the kids ate a really late lunch, so when it came time for dinner I knew they wouldn't be hungry. But, my husband and I were starving and I had the recipe floating around my bookmarked pages for a while, so I made it and am forever joyful that I did! Yes, good food has that effect on me:)

I originally saw the recipe here months ago and thought that it was something I thought I could make given my lack of cooking skills. The recipe is pretty basic with chicken, rice and a sauce. Since my husband and I are committed to healthy eating, I wanted to add in vegetables and I had a red and green bell pepper on hand. If you have yet to discover the bliss of a red bell pepper, I would advice you to incorporate it into your diet STAT! I don't know how I missed them all these years. Well, now that I think about it, the cost of them that has kept me at a distance. They can hike up a grocery bill pretty quick. I don't know, though, some things are worth the extra mone

y:) I am also going to incorporate pineapple the next time I make this to make it more Sweet and Sour authentic. The next time I make it, by the way, is tomorrow. My husband said that I needed to make it again soon! I will attempt to have Jackson try it then, so I will keep you posted.

Recipe for Simple Sweet and Sour Chicken (adapted from Recipes from River View and originally posted on Taste and Tell-which you should totally check out)

Ingredients:

4 chicken breast halves

1 cup Catalina salad dressing

1 cup brown sugar (I am planning on reducing by 1/4 this next time to cut some sugar)

1 envelope dry onion soup mix

1 red bell pepper

1 green bell pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 can of pineapple chunks drained

Brown Rice (serve over)

Place chicken in baking dish. Combine dressing, brown sugar and onion soup mix. Pour over chicken breasts. Cook in preheated oven for 45 minutes or until no longer pink in middle. While chicken is nearly finished, saute cut up peppers in heated olive oil on medium/low heat until softened. Add in pineapple chunks and continue cooking on low until chicken is complete. When chicken is finished, cut in bite size pieces and add chicken and sauce to pepper/pineapple mixture. Combine and then serve over rice. You will be so glad you did:)

Enjoy!

Shea

Mama Guilt

I am very appreciative to Cop Mama for hosting a series called: Mama Guilt Mondays. This will be my first post in the series and you can read mine and think click on the Cop Mama link to read other mama guilt stories. Guilt is just one of the many joys of motherhood, so it is nice to read that you are not alone!

My guilt this week is that I do not always set a good example for my kids to follow. I am talking about the subtle behaviors. The kind that you don't realize until it is too late that your kids are just exhibiting behaviors that they witness you doing.

My kids have a bad habit of yelling for me or to me. They will be in their playroom and yell across the house to me when they need something. I will, of course, lecture them on the proper way to get up, find me, and ask me their question. While this lecture is coming out of my mouth, inside my head I am hearing myself yell to my husband from across the house, or, yell to the kids from across the house. I am sure their little minds are picturing the same thing, but they are too smart to say it out aloud:)

My oldest son is having a hard time controlling his emotions. His younger brother colors on his masterpiece in progress and he has a complete meltdown. Tears down the cheeks, yelling, falling on the floor. Very dramatic! As I am talking to him about how to use his words and how he needs to control his emotions, I am picturing myself speaking passionately to my husband (or what others might call YELLING) or slamming the doors of the kitchen cabinet in a passive aggressive way or crying because something hasn't gone my way. I can be quite an emotional mess at times and I am very guilt ridden that my son has inherited my inability to control his anger/fear/sadness, etc.

Although my kids witness a lot of good behaviors from me, they also get to witness the bad. I need to do a better job of realizing that those little eyes and ears are always upon me. Looking to me to demonstrate how I would want them to behave. If they could only do as I say not as I do, this parenting thing would be a lot easier:)

Ah! So nice to get that off my chest! Thank you, Cop Mama:) Click on this link (Cop Mama) to read other guilt stories and/or to add your own. Or, simply add your guilt in my comments.

Shea

Quick Trick

As a mom I hear and read all kinds of tips and tricks to get your kids to do or not do things. 99% of the time these tips and tricks don't work. I just think every kid is different and what works for one isn't going to work for another. However, the 1% of the time the tip/trick pays off is worth the effort:) So, with that being said, I have found a fun way to get my 3 year old to look forward to bedtime. So far this has been just between the two of us, so I am letting you in on our secret ritual. Don't tell him I told you:)

One night, as I was putting him to bed, he said he wanted to see snow. With us living in Central Florida the chance of him seeing snow anytime soon is pretty much not going to happen (even with our recent cold fronts). So, I told him he could dream about the snow. We then spent a few minutes talking about what he would do in the snow, who would be with him, what the snow will feel like, etc. When he woke the next morning, I asked him about his dream and he described what we had talked about the night before. Every night since, as we walk to his bedroom, he asks me what he will dream about tonight. It is so precious listening to his little voice describe his imaginative scenarios and seeing the anticipation in his eyes for the dream yet to come. The best part of all is that there are little to no tears when I announce bedtime!

So, give it a try if you have a toddler resisting bedtime. If anything, it will be a few special moments spent with your child......

Shea

P.S. Tonight he was dreaming about being in a boat with Mickey Mouse, Jesus and Mimi and Papa!

Parenting pays off!

Being a mommy is easy. The endless hugs and kisses, the sweet voices saying I love you, kissing boo-boo's, snuggling, reading cute books. Not a problem! I could do it all day, every day. (Good thing since it is a 24/7 job) Being a parent, though, is tough. Saying no, setting limits, enforcing rules, administering disciplines, instilling values. That is hard work. Not for the faint of heart, I tell you!

The payoff from being mommy is instantaneous. The moment you give that mommy love it is immediately returned by your child. The payoff from parenting can take hours, days, months, even years. I am here to tell you, my fellow parents, that the payoff does come...eventually. I am living proof!

For years we struggled with getting our oldest to go to bed. It started when he was about 2 years old. Over the years we have tried everything from letting him cry it out, the Supernanny method, establishing a bedtime ritual, lavender in the bath: You name it-we tried it! I can still remember dreading bedtime and many nights letting Jackson just fall asleep on the couch. Just like in anything, we would go through cycles of being steadfast in our attempts and then falling off the wagon and giving in to his cries and pleas. Only, then, to start the whole cycle over. I asked Adam over and over again, "Why can't we do this? Why can't we have a normal night where we give him a bath, read him a story and say good night? Why doesn't this work for us?"

It occurred to me last night, as we finished reading 2 chapters of Junie B Jones, kissed him goodnight and sent him to bed without tears or argument that at some point, we did win the bedtime battle. I don't know what it was that eventually worked, but I do know that we never gave up and we were victorious! As my husband always tells me when I am ready to give up on anything-Stay the Course!

We are not perfect parents by any stretch of the imagination. I have my moments that I am not proud of. But, I can say that we try our hardest to do things that are for the betterment of our kids-even if it takes years to feel like we are successful and even if it makes them cry in the present. So, my friends. Stay the course! Stay true to your parenting beliefs, even when it feels that you aren't making a difference. And, yes. I will be taking my own advice when it comes to Jackson eating what I make for dinner.....

Shea

You know that scene in "A Christmas Story" where Ralphie imagines the punishment of soap in his mouth turns him blind and he returns home to his guilt ridden parents? I believe a similar scene was running through Jackson's head at the dinner table tonight. There were coughs after every bite, claims of tummy aches and clutches of the throat....

"Jackson!", his mother said with fear, "What is wrong with your eyes?"

"They say it was the tomato soup that took my sight!" Jackson replied.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhh! Nooooooooooo! Not the soup!" His mother cried.

This soup was DELISH, I tell you! D-E-L-I-S-H. Jackson even, at one point, admitted to me that he liked the taste. So, why the dramatic scene with every bite? Your guess is as good as mine. I attempted to get into his psyche tonight and asked him why, if he liked the soup, did he resist eating? What is the difference in eating mac and cheese and this bowl of soup? TELL ME!!!! I really did yell. That wasn't written for emphasis of my point. It really happened. I admit I flipped a little. There goes my other resolution this year to reduce the amount I yell at the kids. Seriously, I can imitate Sam Kinison really well around here.

He did eat half of the serving I gave him. Exactly half. I know this because I re-measured the amount in his bowl when he was finished. So, the tally for tonight was a cheese sandwich and half a cup of tomato soup. Not bad. It is still exhausting and, sometimes, traumatic to get him to eat. Will it ever get easier? I have been told that my generation gives up too easy. Not this time! I refuse to stop my efforts. Tonight is "make your own pizza" night. The kids are making pepperoni (turkey pepperoni to be exact) and the husband and I will enjoy Greek Pizza. By the way, each of us has dropped 2 lbs so far! The healthy eating is paying off:) At least one resolution is going well this year.

Here is the recipe to the OH-SO-Fabulous Tomato soup. The base of the recipe came from this recipe blog: http://ourrecipeclub.blogspot.com/2009/09/kristins-tuscan-tomato-soup.html and then I changed it up a bit. I am not a fan of pesto and omitted it from the original recipe. That is really the only change:) I also made a smaller batch....

Ingredients:

1 medium yellow onion

2 cans (14-15oz) diced italian tomatoes drained

1 to 1 1/2 cup chicken stock

1 tsp dried sweet basil

1 cup whipping cream

Olive Oil (enough to coat pan)

Place saute pan on medium heat and coat bottom with olive oil. Saute onions until clear and add in cans of diced tomatoes. Simmer on medium/low heat. Add in chicken stock and simmer 15 mins. Stir in whipping cream and basil. Add mixture to blender (only fill half of blender). Since mixture will be hot, it is a good idea to place a kitchen towel over the top of the lid of the blender. Blend and then add the rest of soup and blend until creamy.

Enjoy!

Shea

Forget what I said....

I am the BEST cook ever:) Ok, not even close. But, I did make a dinner tonight in which I did not use a recipe at all! And, it was super tasty and very healthy. If you had read last nights post, you should be expecting me to write about BBQ Fajitas. Well, at the last minute I decided those did not sound appetizing at all. So, instead I decided to just make plain old boring fajitas. I was too much in a hurry to look anything up on-line or in a cookbook, so I decided to "wing" it. I cut up some chicken breast and seasoned with salt and pepper. Then sautéed the chicken in olive oil and occasionally splashed lime juice. While that was cooking, I cut up a green pepper and yellow onion and proceeded to saute them as well. This was all served with whole wheat tortillas, fat free cheese and low-fat sour cream. I am sure that if you have major cooking skills, you feel that I just spent a few minutes blogging about what must seem like the equivalent of boiling water. But, to me, this was a major deal! A whole meal (that tasted REALLY good) prepared without the use of a recipe. Yea me!

Now the question at hand. Did Jackson eat dinner? Sort of. He took shredded cheese and wrapped it in a tortilla and ate. Does that count? No chicken, no peppers, no onions. In fact, as I am writing this he is still sitting at the dinner table contemplating taking a bite out of the smallest piece of chicken I could find. My husband and I had a switching of arms tonight and he was the bad cop. I was impressed that Jackson ate a whole wheat tortilla without complaint and was willing to allow ice cream without eating chicken. My husband, however, stepped in and said absolutely not. Cut to 10 minutes of arguing, crying, negotiating, etc....oh! Jackson just ate the chicken:) How about that for a play-by-play! Ice cream is served. And, I quote from Jackson, "It tasted like that bean I one time ate at Brandon's (his cousin)."

So, all is good at the Bates household tonight. Mommy is impressed with her mad cooking skills and is deciding what her cooking show will be called, Daddy is thrilled that his parenting skills worked, and Jackson gets ice cream after only having to sacrifice one nibble of chicken. Life is good!

Whole Wheat Pasta tomorrow....

Shea

Foiled again....

With fish being on tonight's menu, I knew I had no chance of Jackson eating. So, to save us all a major headache, I agreed to let the kids eat Mac and Cheese. However, I added a little something to their dish. I used a play out of Mrs. Seinfeld's cookbook and steamed and pureed some butternut squash and mixed it in with the cheese (side note-next time I will buy jars of baby food instead. Too much work and not a big cost savings to steam and puree). Jackson, however, came home "starving" from school, ate the leftover portion of his lunch and therefore was not very hungry for dinner. UGH! I can't win! The one time I felt good about serving him a boxed dinner, he takes two bites and says he is full!

The tilapia was a minor hit with us adults. I must reiterate that I am not a very good cook. Have you ever heard that Kenny Chesney song about the newlywed husband who ate burnt dinners the whole first year? That was my husband, and after 8 years still is! He would never admit it, but I am just not a good cook. And the most upsetting thing is that I try really hard. Tonight's disaster was the asparagus. What should have been a bright and crispy side dish turned into a very salty, sad excuse for vegetables. You know how you can get a good crunch on a bite of asparagus? Well, mine were a soggy pile of shame. Adam kept asking, "What caused them to be so mushy? I didn't know asparagus could have this texture." And I have no idea what I did wrong. Cooked too long, too much lemon juice??? God love Adam for eating them, though! I was going to take pictures to post but was just too embarrassed. I will not give up, I will not give up....

Tomorrow is Bar-B-Que Chicken Fajitas. I promise pictures- no matter how bad the damage is:)

Shea

First dinner of the new year....

Back to normal life today. Which means back to my challenge of getting Jackson to eat more of a variety of foods. Specifically foods that provide some kind of nutrients. I found this great blog that offers weekly menus and BIG plus-she includes the grocery list! Love to get the time back that it usually takes me to read through my recipes for the week and organize the list:http://eatathomecooks.com/. There is a tab at the top of the blog for the menus. This week I am using Week 2 from last year. So, up first was Chicken Divan with broccoli, corn muffins and fruit salad. Overall, I am not a huge fan of the flavors in Chicken Divan, but I was able to eat about half without completely gagging. I know, you are probably thinking: Why make a dish that you know you don't like? Well, I am a rule/list follower. If the list says to make Chicken Divan first-I make Chicken Divan first. Notice that I also made the "suggested" side items. So, if you ever want/need me to do something for you, send me a list with rules and I will be at your beck and call!

Anyhoo....I knew that is was a long shot that Jackson would be eating this dinner. So, to ease the pain I decided to add things to his plate that I know he likes. His side items included goldfish and yogurt along with chicken. I didn't even attempt the broccoli. I knew I was pushing my luck with chicken drenched in sauce. This little trick seemed to work as he did eat some of the chicken. Of course, we also promised ice cream if he ate chicken which, I am sure, didn't hurt.

So, 2010 is off to a good start. My goals/resolutions this year revolve a lot around the kitchen. I want to eat healthier, keep the food costs as low as possible and encourage Jackson to eat healthier. How I am to accomplish this is all about planning and cooking! My husband and I have vowed to eat out as little as possible which will help the health resolution as well as the budget situation. What were your resolutions this year? Day 4....how are you doing so far?

According to the list, dinner tomorrow is Tilapia and Vegetables! Yummy:)

Shea