Meal Plan Monday 6/27-7/31

 
I am going back to monthly meal planning this week, I think it works better with the way I tend to shop - we've been running out of stuff a lot lately! I am also going to adopt a new way of planning our meals:

Monday - meatless
Tuesday - pasta, grain or salad
Wednesday - whatever
Thursday - meatless
Friday - pizza
Saturday - grilling
Sunday - leftovers or a meal to create leftovers for the week

Week 1
Chickpea Masala, brown rice 
Minestrone soup, homemade french bread
Leftovers
Mango chicken, brown rice, broccoli    more leftovers - we all have strep!
Pizza - zucchini, pepperoni, onion, pineapple, sauce   2 frozen organic pizzas I got on clearance at Kroger - strep
MIL's
MIL's

Week 2
MIL's
Spaghetti bolagnaise, whole wheat pasta - guests
Eat out for DH's birthday - guests
Baked potatoes, sour cream, onion, cheese, steamed veggies - guests?
Pizza - - zucchini, pepperoni, onion, pineapple, sauce - guests?
Hamburgers - buns, tomato, avocado, lettuce, cheese, beetroot - guests?
Easy dinner - leftovers or pancakes or waffles

Week 3
Blackbean tacos - black beans, homemade tortillas, tomato, sour cream, salsa, avocado
(Canless) Tuna rice casserole - peas, broccoli, carrot
Spaghetti & meatballs - whole wheat pasta, marinara sauce
Big salad w/ roasted veggies - potato, butternut squash, onion, greens, tomato, avocado, dressing
Pizza
Chicken fajitas - homemade tortillas, tomato, sour cream, salsa, avocado, onion
Baked potatoes

Week 4
Big salad w/ roasted veggies
Taco pasta bake
Waffles or pancakes, fruit
Lentil tacos, homemade tortillas, sour cream, salsa, tomato, avocado
Pizza
Hamburgers
Roasted chicken - potatoes, peas, carrots

Week 5
Baked potatoes
Chicken salad
Canless chicken casserole
Leftovers or breakfast burritos
Pizza
Grilled pork tenderloins
Salad w/ leftover pork

Linking up with Menu Plan Monday

Blueberry Freezer Jam

I'm a canning newbie. I don't own a pressure canner, many jars or even a how to book. But who needs a how to book when you have the internet, right?

The idea of canning is a pretty daunting one. Jars, lids, rings, boiling water, pressure, pectin, acid and sugar ratios... botulism if you do it wrong. And then there is the fact that normal Ball lids are coated in BPA which are then boiled with your food in the jar... not something I'm interested in. BUT I have blueberries taking over my fridge, so I had to do something! After a bit of research I found that freezer jam was probably our best bet. I have lots of freezer space, a bit of spare time and wouldn't have to boil the BPA lined lids (the alternatives I found by the way are made with a PVC derivative, you just can't win!)

I eagerly opened up my box of Pomona's Universal Pectin - a preservative free pectin that is activated by calcium not sugar allowing you to use less sugar, no sugar or sugar substitutes like honey. Took a look at the instruction sheet and said 'what the...'!? So many options and recipes! Jam is not a particularly complex product, I don't know what my issue is!

I ended up going with the 'No Cook Freezer Recipe' and ended up cooking it anyway

4 cups mashed blueberries

1/4C lemon juice (optional - I added a little just to keep the color a little better)

1/2C to 2C of your preferred sweetener 

3/4C water

~ I started out by preparing the calcium powder/solution as per the directions, it keeps for a good while in the fridge so you can use it again later

~ We washed, sorted and removed any rogue stems from the blueberries and started mashing. The potato masher didn't work so we pulled out the big guns. A few seconds in the food processor had them perfectly mashed up (we prefer lots of fruit chunks in our jam)

~ Added 1 cup of sugar and stirred well. We generally prefer our jam to taste more like the fruit in it than the sugar added and although I cut the amount in half I still think it is almost too sweet

~ Boiled the water and threw it in the food processor with 3t pectin powder and blended until dissolved. I initially tried to just mix it by hand with a fork but that wasn't working! The pectin/water solution is then mixed into the fruit/sugar mess

~ The recipe then calls for 4-12t of the calcium water solution to be added to the fruit mix. I started with 4 but ended up with 7 I think but still didn't like the 'jelling' I was getting so boiled it all on the stove for a minute

~ Let sit for a bit then spooned the jam into my jars. I also let those sit for a minute to cool slightly before I put the nasty BPA lids on top; although I was sure to leave lots of room for expansion during freezing I still didn't want any BPA dripping into the jam by way of condensation or something

~ The recipe says to put the jars into the freezer immediately but others say to wait 24 hours, I am going to meet them somewhere in the middle and put them in the freezer before we go to bed tonight

So, in the end it wasn't nearly as scary as I thought it would be and I'm really happy with the end result (I have a half filled jar in the fridge I was nibbling on earlier...) So much so that we're headed back to the blueberry farm next week for more! I want to try my hand at a blueberry apple jam or maybe a blueberry rhubarb aka. bluebarb jam. I wish we had an organic strawberry farm in the area... or plums...  

What's your favorite kind of homemade jam? And where have you found the best prices on jars?

Menu Plan Monday June 20-26

You'll see that some of the things on the menu are repeats from the past few weeks; that's because my menu keeps getting changed around and we never actually ended up having them! Going to try stick to the plan better this week and of course will be eating 3-4 meatless meals as a part of my personal mini challenge

Monday ~ grilled chicken breasts with pesto somehow over rice, pasta and salad (we have lots of leftovers in the fridge right now!)
Tuesday ~ Eggplant/zucchini lasagna, salad ~ meatless
Wednesday ~ Curried chickpeas over brown rice, salad ~ meatless
Thursday ~ Greek Meatballs over brown rice, steamed green beans and carrots
Friday ~ Pizza night!
Saturday ~ Baked potatoes, sour cream, onion, cheese etc ~ meatless
Sunday ~ Grilled chicken breasts, oven roasted/caramelized sweet potato, zucchini and onion, couscous

Linking up with 100s of other menu planners at Orgjunkie.com

Freezing Zucchini

The one zucchini plant that I have left (the rest were lost to squash borer attacks) is still alive and doing well! This weekend I popped 6 cups of zucchini in the freezer - enough to make 12 loaves of zucchini/carrot bread later in the year!

I washed my chosen zucchini, cut them in half and put them through the shredder in my food processor. Spooned the shredded zucchini into my 1C measuring cup (it takes 2C for 2 loaves) and popped them into the freezer on a wax paper lined cookie sheet. Once frozen you can move them to a pyrex dish (our preference) or ziploc or whatever it is you use.

When I have a zucchini bread craving mid November I'll just remove a cup and let thaw while I shred the carrot and bake as usual! Nothing better than homegrown veggies! 

 Linking up with Homestead Revival's Preparedness Challenge

$0 Christmas!

Christmas is coming! Crazy right? I keep looking at the calendar and wondering how on earth it's almost July!

We usually rush around somewhat last minute and try to get everything done. This year though our Christmas is at Thanksgiving, then I'm off to Vegas the week after and P's birthday is in December too so lots to think about! 

With all these things happening at once it's important to budget, prioritize and get organized, especially if we're going to be making things ourselves. My goal is to have a ZERO dollar Christmas - freeing up cash for other things (like my trip to Vegas. Alone!) That means that everything will be paid for using Amazon gift cards earned through various reward sites like Swagbucks and Opinion Outpost and/or with cash earned from doing surveys. I've already started squirreling away credit and am excited to see where we end up!

HAVE:
Amazon credit - $38.35

WAITING ON:
$20 Amazon credit from Valued Opinions
$50 Target Gift Card from E-rewards
$20 check from Toluna

TOTAL so far - 129.35!

Wow! That's not bad. Not bad at all! Imagine where we will be in a few months if I keep this up!

Do you buy your gifts in advance? Or make them? Or are you one of those who runs around last minute trying to pull it all together? Will you join me in this challenge?

Salt Painting

Salt painting is cheap, easy and entertaining; a perfect inside activity for the hottest part of the (brutal) summer day.

You'll need some black paper, white 'school glue', salt, food coloring and water, a couple paint brushes and a container to catch all the salt if you're into that sort of thing (I am)

You start out by drawing on the black paper with the glue

Once your little one is satisfied with their glue art sprinkle a couple spoonfuls of salt over the glue. Holding the paper over your container (ours is green - $5 at Target I think), bend the paper in half slightly and move the salt around the paper until all the glue is covered with salt. Shake off the excess

Show your kiddo how to carefully dab their 'paint' onto the salt and let them have fun experimenting with it. If they watch closely they will see it spread a little down the line (or blob) of salt

We both had a blast with this. P asked to do it again today!

Menu Plan Monday

So what if it's Wednesday? I have an excuse! I was sick, I swear!

Monday - red beans and rice (meatless)
Tuesday - Chicken Parmesan (made using leftover homemade breadcrumbs from meatball making), whole wheat pasta, steamed brocolli and beans from the garden
Wednesday - bean burritos using leftover beans from Monday, homemade tortillas, salsa, sour cream, tomato, avocado etc
Thursday - my variation of a zucchini bake and a big salad with homegrown tomatoes (meatless)homemade dressing
Friday - homemade pizza night!
Saturday - Grilled marinated chicken breasts, grilled zucchini (did I mention how many are in my fridge!?!), cilantro lime brown rice, salad
Sunday -zucchini/eggplant lasagna, salad

I have ~$175 to spend on groceries over the next two weeks. We're headed to the store this afternoon for:
* Org. bananas
* 1 red org. bell pepper
* big container of organic salad mix - may go to Sam's since there's is so much cheaper than Kroger's!
* avocados
* 1 lime
* an org. eggplant
* ricotta cheese - does Kroger have organic?
* org. raw sharp cheddar - Organic Valley makes some really good cheese! - coupon?
* gallon org. 1% milk for me
* 2 bottles of coffeemate for DH - coupon - he won't switch!!
* Pace Picante salsa for DH - another thing he won't budge on!
* 5lb org. unbleached white flour
* 2lb org. cane sugar
* 2lb org. brown sugar
* bag of corn chips - coupon

How Are Your Resolutions Coming Along?

Can you believe it is the middle of June already? JUNE! It'll be July soon and then we're on the way to 2012. Yikes!

How are you doing with your New Year's Resolutions? Have you stuck with them? Or did you give up months ago? I'd love an update (with links if you have them!)

We hit a pretty big milestone yesterday so I thought it was time to update on how I am doing with mine...

1. Cut the clutter! - well, I'm getting there. I manage to get an area cleared off, turn around and it's cluttered again! Solutions?

2. I'd like to lose a bit of weight - I lost 15lbs or so before our vacation. I put almost 10 back on while on holiday. And we walked a lot! HA! Fish and chips will do that to ya... I joined the YMCA last week for their gym and am down nearly 5lbs from my post-holiday weight. Ugh. I would like to lose another 10-15lbs total I think

3. Pay for our vacation in cash! ACCOMPLISHED! And we had money leftover when we came home - see below

4. Pay off some debt! We had some cash leftover from our holiday that I put towards my car payment leaving just $100 on our loan. Yesterday we received the title for my car in the mail from Nissan! We now own both of our vehicles, no car loans for us! We haven't used a credit card in 3-4 years. Our tax refund will be deposited this month and will pay off a couple cards. I can't believe we're actually getting somewhere. We have paid off nearly $40K in debt in the last few years!!

5. Spend more time with the fam and focus on experiences and not things - doing pretty well here, need to remember to focus on this one more though. Sometimes life just gets in the way

(6. Finally get baby #2 in the works. We have been trying for over a year now and nothing. Shhh don't tell anyone) - we found out WHY we haven't been able to conceive and are doing shots every second day to try remedy the situation. We will undergo further testing this month and next and will hopefully have more answers and a game plan.

Are Your Fruits and Veggies DIRTY?

Struggling to eat clean, feed your family and keep to your grocery budget? The EWG's Shopper's Guide to Pesticides is here to help! They have tested 53 of the most popular produce items and ranked them according to the levels of pesticides found in each creating a 'dirty dozen' of which you should always try to buy organic and a 'clean 15' that is 'safer' to buy conventionally grown.

A full guide to all 53 items is also available and is one of my favorite resources

Dirty Dozen - items with high levels of pesticide residue. These you should definitely buy organic. It should also be noted that most, if not all tests were run on produce that had been washed and peeled

Apples

Celery

Strawberries

Peaches

Spinach

Nectarines - imported
Grapes - imported

Sweet bell peppers
Potatoes

Blueberries- domestic
Lettuce
Kale/Collard greens

Clean 15 - found to be lowest in pesticides from top to bottom

Onions

Sweet Corn
Pineapple
Avocado
Asparagus

Sweet peas
Mangoes
Eggplant
Cantaloupe - domestic

KiwiFRUIT
Cabbage
Watermelon
Sweet potato
Grapefruit
Mushrooms

What produce is a must for you to buy organic? Do you buy organic even if it's on the 'clean 15' list if you eat a lot of the item or to avoid GMOs? (corn)

DIY Coffeetable!

My husband and I love building things! We'd much rather built it than buy it. We have a garage full of tools and we're not afraid to use them!

P got a mummy and daddy made play kitchen for his second birthday

See how sturdy it is? That was the point ;)

As well as a HUGE bookcase for the playroom upstairs but not without trying out a smaller model first

We built a sandpit out of landscaping timbers for our little digger too!

But there came a point where my honey-do list was longer than my husband's arm and he's a very busy man! Inspired by Ana White, I stopped telling him what to make and started making it myself!

I can't believe it has been almost a year since I tackled my first building project all on my own; an art table with cubbies

And some easy peasy crates to go on the wall above it

Something that was not easy peasy however was the bookshelf I built for our living room at the end of last year. I don't think I will be making another one of those anytime soon. Too many angles!

And today; today I added a coffee table to our house of handmade furniture.

It started MONTHS ago!

 But is finally done! Well, almost.

Inspired by the 'Mom's Lego Table' on Ana-white.com, I took the plans that Ana provided, changed the design and dimensions a little and came up with a table custom built to fit our U-shaped couch perfectly with the added bonus of a little extra storage. Handy!

I hope to get our new table puttied, sanded and stained this coming week. Stay tuned!

Jel Dessert All Natural 'Jello'

P and I came across Natural Desserts All Natural Jel Dessert today while looking for organic pectin at Whole Foods. P has had Jello maybe twice in his life before I banned it from my house but he remembers it and asked if we could get some when I told him what it was. He chose the Orange flavor of course!

Jel Dessert is vegan, gluten free and all natural with no artificial colors or flavors. One box costs $1.69 at Whole Foods. There are 4 servings in a box, each with 80 calories, 0g fat and 20g of carbs/sugar.

The ingredients of the orange flavored jel are: evaporated cane juice, vegetable gum, adipic acid, potassium citrate, natural flavor and beta carotene. I knew what all of those are besides the adipic acid. A quick google showed that the CSPI has adipic acid on their safe list and after a little more research I am OK with it in small amounts; we won't be living off this 'Jello' - it's just a treat! So we got to it!

One box of the jel powder is mixed with 2 cups of boiling water.

The powder dissolved pretty easily and we popped it in the fridge. Less than 2 hours later it was set! They do say on the box that it sets faster than regular gelatin desserts

 And we dug in!

We all thought it was very flavorful, definately very 'orangey'! Yummy! It had the smooth texture we expected, no weird chunks or gritty bits. It also does not form the film on top and/or on the bottom like Jello does.

All in all we were very impressed and can't wait to try the strawberry and raspberry too! On our 'acceptable alternative' meter we gave it a 8 or 9 out of 10. We'd give it a 10 if there were more flavors available and if it were organic.

Great Organic/Natural Product Coupons!

I did pretty well this week at the grocery store, thanks in part to some great coupons out there!

Rudi's Organic Bakery has a $1 off printable on their website right now. Hit back and print two! I have seen these loaves on sale recently for 2/$5 or they generally run from $3.99-$5.99 a loaf depending on the store. I am hoarding my coupons and will buy when they're on sale and throw them in the freezer for later. I just saw that Whole Foods has them 2/$6 this week making them $2 a loaf after coupons!

So Delicious makers of organic and GMO free coconut milk have a printable $1 off coupon on their website. Our Kroger has the unsweetened carton on sale for $1.99 right now from $3.99 saving you a ton when combined with a coupon!

Stoneyfield Farm Organic has a bunch of printables right now for all sorts of things including some for YoBaby yoghurt and one for 50c off a large container of their organic yoghurt. If you store doubles coupons (our Kroger now does NOT!) and you combine with a sale that can make for some cheap organic yoghurt! While you're over there be sure to sign up for their rewards program. Each 32oz container of yoghurt = 3 points, other products' values vary but redemption starts at just 20 points; I love their one year subscription to Kiwi magazine and the free product coupons!

Mambo Sprouts has 2 pages of e-coupons too! You'll find coupons there for Lundberg Farms organic rice products, Luna bars, organic juices and dairy products. I used a $1 Izze Sparkling Juice coupon today at Kroger. We LOVE their sparkling grapefruit but it's pricey so it's a very rare treat. Kroger has 4-packs on sale for $4.99, down from $5.99 so I saved 0.50 a piece today. The hubby will be happy!!

Organic Valley also has a few printables up for their milk and yoghurt products

And if you shop at Whole Foods they have a bunch of them available online and in store too! Most Whole Foods stores allow you to combine their coupons with manufacturers coupons to save even more. Give your local store a call to find out, I just did! (wish I had thought of that sooner!)


Do you have any other favorite sources for organic coupons?

Make Ahead Meatballs!

We're all busy. We're all frazzled. I KNOW we all make it to 4pm, look around and think 'what the heck am I going to make for dinner!?!' The answer? Meatballs!

But not from scratch. Not this time at least. One hour of hard core meatball making can save you numerous hours later in the month, it does me! Doing all the baking in one go also means you won't have to heat your kitchen up during the summer, especially if you reheat in the crockpot!

I originally found this recipe on Freeze Happy and have adapted slightly since then. Let's get started!

Mini Meatballs

1 large onion, grated
1&1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan
9 garlic cloves, minced - I've never used more than 2-3 though!
3 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
3/4 cup dried Italian style bread crumbs - I use homemade
3 pounds ground meat - I use 1/2 beef 1/2 pork
1/4 c. ketchup
3/4 c. chopped fresh Italian flat leaf parsley leaves - never have, never use
6 leaves fresh basil, chopped - never have, never use

Let's start with the breadcrumbs; I have yet to find a store bought, premade container of breadcrumbs that do not contain high fructose corn syrup. Well, the $5 organic panko breadcrumbs at Whole Foods don't but that's not realistic. So we make our own! 

Breadcrumbs

~ Heat oven to 350. 

~ Take a few slices of bread; I keep all my loave heels in the freezer for this very purpose. Grind them up. You can use a food processor, blender... I use an unused coffee grinder

~Throw whatever dried or fresh herbs you like in there until it looks like enough. I'm real helpful, huh? I love to use lots of oregano, rosemary, basil and thyme. Process/shred/grind until you have breadcrumbs

~Take a pyrex dish or similar, lightly grease with olive oil and spread breadcrumbs out into the dish in a thin layer

~Pop them into the oven checking every few minutes until they are golden brown then mix and repeat until they all seem to be lightly toasted

~Remove dish from oven, measure out your 3/4C needed for the meatballs and set the rest aside. I usually put mine in a jar and refrigerate, they will keep for a while

Making The Meatballs 

~Lightly grease a cooking sheet with olive oil and keep close by

~Heat oven to 400F

~In a large bowl blend the onion, garlic, eggs, breadcrumbs, ketchup, parsley, Parmesan, salt and pepper

~Mix in your grown meat. We like to do 1/2 grass fed ground beef and 1/2 pastured pork. Delicious and just a little bit naughty. You can use turkey if you care about your arteries

~Shape into 1-2" diameter meatballs and place them on the cookie sheet you have ready. Saves you from getting meat juices allover your olive oil!

~Bake at 400F for 15-25 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 160F

~Remove cooked meatballs and place on a clean, cool cookie sheet

~Repeat previous steps with the rest of your meatball mixture until you've used all the meat mix.  I usually end up with 80+ meatballs

 

To Freeze

~'Flash freeze' - place the clean cookie sheet(s) of meatballs into the freezer for 1-3 hours

~When frozen remove all of the meatballs from the cookie sheets and store in a large Pyrex container

To Serve

~Remove meatballs from freezer as soon as you remember you have people to feed. We usually end up using 12 each meal so we get 6-8 meals out of one batch of meatballs! 

~Use them in whatever recipe you like thawed or frozen, just be sure to check a meatball for doneness - you don't want the middle to still be cold!

Freeze Happy has a bunch of different meatball recipes to make using these meatballs and I also have a favorite recipe that I will share soon! How do you like your meatballs?

Summer Crafts: Do-A-Dot Painting

I bought a pack of Do-A-Dot Art Sponge Tip Applicator Paints from Amazon last week.

For $13.90 we got the Rainbow set with 6 colors; purple, green, red, yellow, blue and orange. So far they've been worth every penny! All the colors are bright, the pens are very easy for Mr. 3 to use and they don't smell obnoxious either; they are 'non-toxic' but I was worried they might stink. They don't. In fact I think they kind of smell like calamine lotion! We also loved that the colors all mixed really well together so we were able to throw a bit of a 'red + yellow makes orange' lesson in there too!

 

I printed a bunch of shape pages off 1+1+1=1 and P and I had a great time painting them all!

What I loved most about them was that he could paint, fling the pens around, flap his arms up and down, spin around while holding them and not a drop of paint went anywhere but on the paper. We don't do much painting because it usually ends up everywhere, no matter how hard I try to contain the paint and the child. I was hoping these would be a fun and easy (and clean!) activity for us to do during the hotter parts of the next 180 days and they didn't disappoint! Take that Texas summer!

{ this post was not sponsored by Do-A-Dot Art Products or anyone else for that matter. I just like them is all :) }

Meatless June Challenge!

That's what I'm calling this madness.

The farm that we get our beef, pork, eggs and some of our chicken from recently upped their prices, the ground beef alone went up 0.50/lb overnight! I haven't even looked at the steak prices... I can't quite figure it out, it's not the price of grains; they are 100% grass fed, perhaps the drought means more water is needed to water said grass? I don't know. Either way, I'm sad. I love meat. But for June we are going to aim to have 3-4 meatless dinners a week starting this week! I know it will save us money and help our waistlines!

So here we go!

Thursday 6/2 - meatless
Dinner: big mixed green salad with grated beetroot and carrot, avocado, tomato and hard boiled egg. Homemade balsamic vinaigrette. Oven roasted butternut squash and onion drizzled with sea salt and olive oil.

Friday 6/3
Dinner: homemade pizza with homegrown zucchini and green bell pepper, homemade sauce, cheese, pineapple on my and P's pieces and pepperoni on DH's

Saturday 6/4
Breakfast: pastured eggs; poached, fried and scrambled (ha!), toast and assorted homemade jams people have gifted us 
Lunch: grass fed beef hot dogs on Rudi's organic bread (get $1 off coupon here). Watermelon, grapes and blueberries we picked yesterday 
Dinner: Grilled organic chicken breasts (HEB/Central Market had them on sale for 4.99/lb!), lime cilantro brown rice, grilled zucchini and a salad

Sunday 6/5
Breakfast: eggs, toast and jam again. Or maybe I can convince DH to make biscuits 
Lunch: sandwiches on Rudi's bread with turkey, tomato, avocado, lettuce, cheese, beetroot, mayo, mustard... fruit 
Dinner: Grilled grass fed beef fajitas on homemade tortillas with sour cream, salsa, homegrown cilantro and a salad

Monday 6/6 - meatless 
Dinner: Chickpea Curry over brown rice. Steamed homegrown green beans and carrots 

Tuesday 6/7 - batch cooking - making 80+ meatballs to freeze
Dinner: Grass fed beef/pastured pork meatballs in Greek tomato sauce (recipe to come) with homegrown zucchini over brown rice. Steamed broccoli 

Wednesday 6/8 - meatless
Dinner: Alfredo with peas and broccoli over whole wheat pasta 

Thursday 6/9 - meatless
Dinner: Red beans and rice (pinto beans and brown rice)


Snacks for the week:
- Lots of fruit, we have apples, bananas, watermelon, cantaloupe, oranges, grapes and blueberries we picked yesterday at the local blueberry farm! Will also be eaten for dessert
- Homemade hummus - I ordered some organic tahini from amazon tonight (free) so I'm ready to give it a shot! Carrot sticks, crackers and multigrain 'corn chips' (Food Should Taste Good, GF, GMO free cracker chip things) to go with the hummus
- Yoghurt and fruit and/or applesauce
- Air popped popcorn
- Cereal mix for P; all his cereals he has with some raisins thrown in there

That's four meatless meals. Yay! I hope DH doesn't divorce me... I have, I think, everything we need to make it through til next week food wise, besides maybe some more bananas and have $112 left (out of $200) to last until the 15th. Not too bad!

What are some of your favorite meatless meals?

Natural Sun Protection

Summer is here. And we live in Texas. Enough said I think! We do utilize shaded areas, wear hats (we found an awesome hat with neck covering in Australia!) and rash guard swimming shirts on the boy but we still require good protection from the sun in the form of a sunscreen.

With how hot the sun is and how delicate our skin is it is certainly tempting to get something you know will do the job from any grocery store or drug store. But are they safe?

The EWG has put together a great list of the best natural and not-so-natural sunscreens and sunblocks to help us choose our summer products a little more wisely. Once again, those with a 0 rating are chemical free and safer than those with a 10 rating. How does your sunscreen stack up?

We use and love California Baby No Fragrance Sunscreen lotion SPF30+ (CA Baby) and Badger Unscented SPF30 Sunscreen, both have ratings of 1 out of 10 so they are pretty safe ingredient wise!

As stated in their names, both are unscented, that is, they use no fragrance or fragrance masking chemicals. CA Baby truly does smell like nothing but I think Badger does have a slight scent; it smells like chocolate! (it has cocoa butter in it) And I love that slight chocolaty smell it has.

Both sunscreens go on pretty easily. CA Baby is a lotion while Badger is more paste like, it takes a little more effort to rub it in than it does to apply CA Baby but nothing too troublesome. It does tend to feel a little greasy and may or may not make your child look like a vampire for a while but this just gives protection from werewolves AND the sun. Not a big deal for us in the end, though I know others may have issues with it.

I love that neither product has ever irritated our skin; P has both eczema and psoriasis so he is sensitive to these things. I have never noticed myself breaking out from them either but what really matters is that they both do their job well without the use of harsh chemicals. We have never been burnt in or out of the pool. Badger appears to be more waterproof, perhaps due to its thicker feel but we have never had sunburn occur using either while we are swimming. We do reapply as needed and required of course.

All in all, both products are great chemical free sunblock options. California Baby is around $17.99 for 2.9oz on Amazon and at Target. Badger on the other hand is cheaper at $13.60 for 2.9oz on Amazon Everything considered, out of the two, I will probably continue to buy Badger for the price savings, we don't mind looking pasty in the pool ;) Though I have been looking at a few others on the list and will price check them too. What looks good to you?

{This post was not sponsored by California Baby or Badger. All thoughts are my own and I paid for the products myself for our own personal use}

The Winners of the BabyLegs Giveaway are:

Diana and scrap mama, congratulations!

Random.org chose comments 24 and 22! I will be sending out emails shortly!