Oven Baked Veggies

Ok so this isn't so much of a recipe as it is a delicious idea!! I've been trying to eat clean more often so tonight I made a big batch of oven baked veggies to eat with my quinoa loaf. 

I used - potatoes, asparagus, broccoli, carrots, kale, and fresh parsley. I used a light amount of olive oil and seasoned with real salt, pepper, and dry thyme. I baked the dish at 425F for 25-30 min. 

This is now one of my go-to quick dishes so I can get in my veggie servings on those nights I'm not in a salad mood. 

Stock Pile Step 1

I am always looking for ways to save! It drives my husband crazy, he feels that frugal tips (ie. up-cycling, stock piling, DIY) are for 'people who don't have enough money and have to budget' - his words not mine! He fails to understand the reason why we have money to do the things we want is because I cut money wherever I possibly can! I budget so that we can budget fun activities into our lives. Needless to say I am the money manager and the deal finder.

My next obstacle to saving money is to begin stock piling. I finally have a big enough house (we just moved) that will allow me to stock pile. Right now I am searching to find the best shelving units to use - if you have any favorites please let me know, I am worried to buy flimsy ones that will just break with the weight of cans, rice etc. In the mean time I am beginning to compile all the information that I need to create an efficient, and cost effective stock pile. I rounded up a few of my recent receipts from grocery shopping trips and made a spreadsheet to document the prices that I have paid for various goods.

Here is my spread sheet (when I print this, I will only print columns A-C)

This is what I did:

1) Gathered a few of my recent receipts
2) 3 headers - Item, Shelf Life, and Average Price
2) Listed all the items, alphabetically
3) Under column C (average price) I used a formula: =+AVERAGE(D3: however many cells you need to include)
4) Add in shelf life of dry goods

Pretty simple. This way I can print my list out and bring it with me on my grocery shopping trips, so that I can see what I usually pay. By doing this I can find the best items to stock pile based on price. I do not want to be stock piling items if they are more expensive than I usually pay, where is the money savings in that?

A few more notes - some items I don't care what type they are, for example, apples. I buy whatever kind is cheaper, so I grouped them all together. Other items, like bell peppers, I try to buy different colored peppers, so I separated them out by color. Another thing to remember, is that the prices in the product aisles are priced out per weight. They use the same measurement, so there is no need to write the measurement next to the item, this would be redundant and crowd the spreadsheet. I did not pay $29.90 for chia seeds, I paid around $4 for the amount I took home, however they are priced $29.90 per kg.

Hope this helps! What are your tips for starting a stock pile? Please share.

Eat Better Live Better!

Well today is the day! Today is the day I jump back on the "weight loss" train. I hate to refer it as weight loss, it is more of a lifestyle change - exercising more, eating better, and sleeping better. But lets face it, the main goal is to shed some pounds!

I will post work out video reviews and some of my favorite healthy recipes!

The time is now my friends!