Tag Archives: theskimm

Tips on Making a Meal Plan

Tips on Making a Meal Plan - Baby DoodahLet’s talk Meal Planning

It’s been a couple weeks since I join in with the Sunday Meal Plan Link-up, but I’ve decided to join back-up. Really, the only reason I hadn’t posted my meal plan in the last few weeks was laziness. Seamus and I always make a meal plan! It’s our way of attempting to save money and not worry about what we’ll eat each night of the week.

On Making a Meal Plan

As I flip through other blogs and even other bigger sites around the web, I am noticing what a hot topic meal planning is right now. It’s something that Seamus and I have been doing since we started shopping together 6 or so years ago, so it’s really nothing new to me. We haven’t always written it down, but, as with all things, time progresses and improvements are made. Our system works really well for us, and the bickering that used to occur when we’d meal plan, has pretty much ceased to exist.

It’s because of that, that I decided to share our method with you, in hopes that it will help someone else who is struggling to meal plan, or just doesn’t know quite how to get started.

Our Step by Step Meal Planning Process

  1. Make the Meal Plan when You are not in a Hurry – This might seem like a given, or maybe it doesn’t, but my biggest most important piece of advice is to NOT meal plan when you are in any kind of a hurry. That just leads to frustration and irritation when one or both of you can’t come up with ideas or are slightly distracted. Seamus and I do our meal planning Saturday evenings (we shop on Sundays), once Emmett is in bed. We’re not in any hurry and there are few distractions
  2. Choose a Meal Plan Template – There are SO many options out there for meal planners. Heck, if you just use google images, and search Meal Plan templates, thousands will come up. Flip through them, choose your favorite, but as your meal planning evolves, so might your template. So, don’t feel stressed if what you originally chose doesn’t continue to work. This is the link to the one we use, I am a fan of having the days of the week at the top and the meals on the side.
  3. Have a Few Standby Meals – Almost every week, we have one or two meals that we make. These are meals that are quick to throw together, and help to easily fill in the gaps on your empty menu.
  4. Try Out a Few New Recipes – Not every week, but almost every week, we try to find a new recipe to make. Sometimes these are wins, but sometimes they’re EPIC fails!! Either way, it helps to make meal planning go quicker.
  5. Plan For at Least 6 Meals – We always plan for 7 meals, but I recommend doing at least 6. This will allow you enough options to rotate, in case you don’t feel like eating something, or just don’t have the time.
  6. Don’t Assign a Specific Meal to a Specific Day – Our meal plan is very open – we have 7 meals chosen, but none of those are tied to a specific day, unless it’s a more complicated meal, and then it gets saved for weekends. We love having the flexibility to make whatever we want on whatever day we want.
  7. Make a Grocery List – Once you’ve made meal plan, the next step is putting all of the items that are needed in a list. I prefer using apps because then Seamus and I can sync them up. That way we can both add to the list, or delete as needed. Wunderlist is our current favorite for making all of our shopping lists!
  8. Be Consistent! I’m sure you won’t enjoy every moment of meal planning (though, some people do), but do it anyway. You are bound to save money, eat healthier and lose weight by default. And if one way doesn’t work, switch it up and try another. I promise you that after about 6 weeks of meal planning, it will be old hat and you will just do it.

Good Luck!

Here’s our Meal Plan for this week!!

Monday: Steak, Chick Pea & Tomato Salad

Tuesday: Burgers in Romaine Lettuce & Cauliflower “Potato” Mash

Wednesday: Polish Sausage & Asparagus

Thursday: Fish Tacos

Friday: White Pizza Stuffed Zucchini Boats

Saturday: Chicken Shawarma

Sunday: Marinated Chicken and Corn on the Cobb

It’s a week full of tasty eats, that I cannot wait for!!

Your turn!

Have you ever meal planned? If you have, do you like it or loathe it?

What’s on your menu this week?

I’m linking up with Laura from Mommy, Run Fast! and Jill from jillconyers.com.

Looking for a quick, easy and FREE way to get your news? Check-out theSkimm and sign-up for your daily email box delivery of the world’s news, plus if you share your birthday, you get it listed at the bottom of the newsletter on your day. It’s like celebrating with thousands of people!!!!

Macy’s – Back to School with Radio Disney

This is a sponsored post, but the excitement and opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting my family!

Can you believe that schools are already back in session?! I know some of you sent your kids back to school in mid-August but in Western NY most schools don’t go back until a day or two after Labor Day. But, believe it or not, we’ve already hit that mark!!

My Facebook feed is chock FULL of posts from all of my friends who are sending their kids back to school. It’s an exciting time, even for those who were not quite ready to send their kiddos (this will be me in a few years). Kids are loving that they get to show off their new clothes, backpacks, pens or paper, and parents are excited to experience some peach and quiet. 🙂

With the start of the new school year, Emmett’s day care decided to switch kids around – some got moved up to the older grade and others moved to a new classroom. Emmett was one of the ones who got to move up! I know he can’t express himself perfectly, yet, but I’m pretty sure he was excited. He is going to be with more kids his age and have a whole new room, with a whole new lot of toys!! Who would complain about that!?

Emmett-Day Care

Also, with the new school year brings the very first school year weekend, which just so happens to fall on September 6th & 7th this year. September 6th is going to be a very fun and exciting day for us, because we were invited to attend the Macy’s Back to School with Radio Disney event at the Walden Galleria. It’s a FREE event that Macy’s and Radio Disney are joining forces to put on. It’s an event just for kids (obviously parents are invited too), and there will be crafts, games, lots of other fun stuff, plus a look at the coolest kid’s styles.

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So, even though Emmett isn’t officially in school yet, we’ll be heading to Macy’s to take part and have some fun. It’s sometimes hard to find things to do on weekend afternoons that are free (because we’re on a budget) and are kid friendly. This fits both!! I cannot wait!!

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Your turn!

Have you ever attended a Macy’s back to school event? If so, what was it like?

What’s the first thing you’ll be doing on this first weekend of the school year?

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Looking for a quick, easy and FREE way to get your news? Check-out theSkimm and sign-up for your daily email box delivery of the world’s news, plus if you share your birthday, you get it listed at the bottom of the newsletter on your day. It’s like celebrating with thousands of people!!!!

Fitness Fridays – A Slightly New Direction

Fitness Fridays is BACK!!

Last week, I took a very short hiatus from Fitness Fridays. I decided to take the time to regroup and refocus on what I wanted out of these posts, because what I previously had wasn’t really working. Well, it was working, but it wasn’t what I had in mind when I decided to revive these from the dead.

I find my Fitness Friday posts to be very motivational and inspirational because I am forced to come here and report to the internet at large, what my goals are and whether I met them. There is nothing that holds me more accountable than not wanting to report a failure to my readers (or anyone, really).

I decided to keep these weekly posts light on the advice (with the occasional advice post, when I have something I really want to share) and heavy on how the week went for me, what worked, what didn’t, etc. I don’t want that to be relegated to the very bottom of the post. For me, the whole purpose of this is to be like an online journal where I share my trials and tribulations, keep myself motivated and maybe inspire someone else in the process.

So, I’m hoping you’ll join me on this new and improved expedition!! There won’t be a link-up at this time, but I’ll re-evaluate that as time marches on.

For now, I hope that you can except my brutal honesty towards myself and support me as I do so. Ready? Set… GO!

Fitness Fridays-BabyDoodah 8-1-14

Fitness Fridays…… Renewed! 

Week of 7/26/14 – 8/1/14

This was a hell of a week! It was my first full week back since being on vacation and I wasn’t happy about that, so I was really caught up in the emotions of work and not really paying attention to my eating or exercise. However, I did manage to keep my nutrition to at least a 7 (out of 10), for the majority of the week.

I got back into drinking my Shakeology, which keeps a lot of my cravings at bay, but I was still wanting salty / carby foods, thanks to PMS. I did manage to eat lots of veggies all week long, which helped keep me full and away from the junk. I didn’t weigh-in this week, because I just didn’t want to face the music AND I’m considering taking the scale out of my life, at least for the near future, (more to come on this in future posts).

But, while my eating was around a 7 all week, my exercise was a big FAT 0. 🙁 I felt low in energy all week, and just couldn’t find the get up and go to get a workout done. I did walk with Emmett a lot, but no intense sweat sessions. I do realize, that if I had worked out, that low energy probably would have gone away, I’d have felt amaze-balls (yes! I did just say that). 🙂

I do want to say one thing, and it is a REALLY important thing. I refuse to beat myself up any more, for anything. Whether it be a lack of motivation to workout, or the way I naturally react to a situation. I’m sick and tired of always hating the way I am, or the way I look. In order to overcome that I need to change my mindset, and realize that I am okay the way I am. I’m not saying no to self-improvement, but I am saying no to beating myself up for not being 100% amazing RIGHT NOW.

Fitness / Food Goals for the next week:

  1. Complete the 3 Day Refresh! I start on Monday! I’m kind of nervous, but I can do anything for 3 days, right!?
  2. Workout 4 times. Beachbody recommends that you do light to no exercise during the refresh, due to the lower number of calories you’re taking in, because of this, I am aiming for 4 workouts, instead of 6 or 7.
  3. I will keep my nutrition at a 7 out of 10.

Your turn!

What do you think of the new (again) format of Fitness Fridays?

Share one or all of your goals in the comments below, let’s hold each other accountable!!

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Have you heard of theSkimm? No?! You need to! It’s an online, daily email newspaper, that shares all the important stories from the previous day. It’s free to sign-up, and  you’ll start receiving the newsletters daily (Monday-Friday). You can check them out, and see what they’re all about by clicking here.

A Couple Things

Hey everybody! It’s been a little while since I’ve done one of my “couple things” posts. I thought I’d take this opportunity to do just that.

1. Fitness Fridays – They’re going to be a little different around here. Kathy, my co-host has decided to take a break from writing on her blog for a “to be determined length of time.” If you were an avid reader or visitor of her blog, be sure to stop on over and wish her well!!

In the meantime, I am planning on continuing with Fitness Fridays, with a break today because I wanted to cover a couple things. 🙂 I also will be doing some brainstorming on how to make it bigger. I don’t want anything huge, but I’d like to reach more blogs, get more people to link-up or get involved. If you’re interested in teaming-up, feel free to comment below or email me at jillianokeefe1022@gmail.com

2. TheSkimm – I am deeply in love with TheSkimm. Every morning, Monday-Friday, I get an email in my inbox, BRIGHT AND EARLY, with a rundown on the day’s news. Now, you’re probably wondering why you would want to sign-up for something new when you have the internet at your disposal. Well here’s the answer, #1 TheSkimm is free to sign-up for and #2, the news descriptions they provide are brief, to the point and explained in a manner that anyone can understand. I have felt tremendously more educated about the world’s events since joining them. Below is a snapshot of what their daily email looks like.

A-Couple-Things---TheSkimm

3. Beachbody – I am slowly but surely working and learning the ropes of the Beachbody community. It’s a lot of fun and I’m learning SO much. I actually just ordered the 3 Day Refresh and PiYO. I can’t wait to receive them!! I also have a 13 day clean eating challenge beginning on August 4th. If you’re interested in learning more about it, please comment below or email me. I’d be happy to send along the information, I just need commitment by July 28th.

4. A GIVEAWAY! Yay! My final update for today is that I’m joining Logan from Logan Can… in celebrating her 2 year blogaversary! She’s hosting a really great giveaway that you NEED to be a part of. Enter using the Rafflecopter widget below and be sure to stop over to her blog and say HAPPY BLOGAVERSARY, Logan!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Your turn!

What are a couple things from your world?

What was the best part of your week?

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Things I’m Loving – Recently

Periodically, some of my favorite blogs do posts about things they’re loving. I think this is a great idea, so I decided to do one of my own.

1- Footlogix – Where MEDI meets PEDI – I came upon this company by accident. I went for my first pedicure of the season and my feet were bad. I knew they were, which is why I opted for the FULL pedicure. The nail technician asked me about my feet and whether I used lotion daily and I had to admit that I hadn’t been. She recommended this foot mousse, and since I’m a sucker for beauty products, plus who doesn’t want cute feet in the summer, I went ahead and bought it. I am SO in love! It is easy to use and absorbs quickly, and it’s really keeping my feet soft. It’s been two weeks since my pedi, and my feet feel like it was just a few days ago. Woohoo!

2. Blogelina’s eBook Bundle for Moms (that’s an affiliate link) – I’m a huge fan of the Blogelina website, but she’s seriously outdone herself. She is giving away an entire eBook bundle packed full of tips and tricks for monetizing your blog and for making it better. Yes, seriously free! I signed-up myself, not sure if it was really free – but it totally is!! You can see (or click) the imagine below for everything you get for free.

Everything You Need To Build A Successful Blog

3. Hug Time (another affiliate link) – This is Emmett’s favorite before bed book, and we read it nightly (twice). Despite having read it about 300 times in the last month, I love the book and the message that it portrays. It’s a great book that Baby Doodah and I highly recommend.

4. Potty Train in a Weekend Click here to view more details (affiliate link) – We’re not quite ready to start potty training Emmett, but we’re definitely beginning to think about it. This book is an AMAZING guide to doing it all in 1 single weekend. I’ll be doing a full review of it soon, stay tuned.

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5. theSkimm –  One of the best most recent finds I’ve come across. Daily, Monday – Friday, they send an email out with the daily news from around the world. The best part is, THEY read everything in depth and summarize it into quick little bursts making it easy to get caught up on what’s going on, but not spend hours doing it. The best part is it’s free! I seriously feel much more educated since I began using their service 2 weeks ago.

And just a few other things….

If you’re interested, you can sponsor Baby Doodah! I have some great options available starting at $5. If you do choose to sponsor my little ole blog, you’ll get to see your pretty blog picture over there —> in my sidebar.

If you love my blog you can follow me on all sorts of social networks! Here are my links: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Bloglovin’, and Google+.

And finally, if you are feeling generous and want to support cancer research, donate to my ride. I’m riding 62.5 miles for Roswell Park Cancer Institute and their Ride for Roswell. Anything will help me reach my goal, and further advance cancer research. Just click HERE to donate.

Okay, that about does it. I appreciate all of my readers, and would love it if you’d share this post with others, using the buttons below.

Your turn!

What are you loving? I love new products / ideas, so lay it on me!

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