Three Recipes, Next Week!

I am feeling super successful this month, with my steps toward wellness.  As you know, I consider the journey to wellness to include many areas of life... mentally, spiritually and physically. It is easy to get overwhelmed by the scope of the journey!  My journey to wellness is simple... just take a next step toward what you want.

When I get involved in a new thing.  I want to set up the perfect system, accumulate every supply I could possibly ever need, find a way to store and organize all these new supplies.  By the time I have made lists, watched videos, search Pinterest, made multiple shopping trips, I am so overwhelmed by my new endeavor, I run out of time and money to actually start doing what it was I wanted to do.

Such was the case with me with meal planning.  I want to cook healthier meals.  I want to grocery shop for just what I need and under budget.  I want to stop throwing food away that goes bad before I get a chance to cook it.  I want to eat out less.  I have worthy goals!

I was so inspired!  I started watching videos, pinning recipes, and looking for the best printables.  I started wondering what binder I would use, and what categories would I set up.  I starting making a mental list of what I needed to go buy just to organize all the great meal plans I was about to create.  I really should plan so that there is a theme for the week.  Maybe plan where the ingredients are similar so I can cut up stuff once.  How will I store these prepared ingredients.  You know my pantry is a mess.  I need to organize that.  Then I heard the soft whisper in my head... "three recipes, next week."  What?  Ok... yes, that is wise.

I remembered an app I have on my PC, phone and tablet:  Recipe Keeper Pro. I had only used it for saving recipes but I discovered it also had meal planning and  grocery list features.  I could even import recipes straight from the websites of my favorite bloggers, no retyping or cut/pasting!

I love this app! I started creating categories, and importing recipes.  This was gonna be great! Again the whisper... "three recipes, next week."  "Ok... ok... I will focus..."

In my freezer, I knew I had ground beef, boneless chicken breast, and a ground pork.  So I started importing multiple fun recipes from Pinterest and Blogs.  "My family is going to be so impressed with all the meals I will cook for them!"  Again, I heard that voice in my head... "three recipes, next week." I asked, but where will I put them.  "three recipes, next week."  Well, I at least need a binder with dividers with tabs, page protectors and... "Use what you have ... three recipes, next week."

I am so thankful God was helping keep me on track, because left to my own devices, I would have two dozen recipes and gone to bed without ever making it to the grocery store.

I did pick out three recipes, went grocery shopping, and I cooked those meals that week.  And my family loved all them!  We ate out one time that week, after church.  We had leftovers the other days and I fell in love with meal planning!

Here are the three recipes I used my first week:
Mexican Zucchini and Beef Skillet from Low Carb Yum
One Pan Baked Italian Chicken & Tomatoes  from Real Housemoms
Eggroll Skillet from Mrs Happy Homemaker

I did use what I had for saving the recipes for the future.  I printed these three recipes, put them in page protectors and put them in one of the plastic pocket folders I had just bought for my son's school supplies. Small and easy to use while cooking.  The page protectors helped me not get food stains on the recipe.  At the end of the week, I realized I already had this cute binder from CR Gibson.  I bought it at a school book sale and had never used. So I decided this will be where I store my meal planning recipes.

I will keep using the pocket folder for the recipes for the current week. As we find recipes we think are "keepers", I will add them to the binder.  It will grow each week as I keep doing "three recipes, next week." Ok....  I changed it to five recipes each week, each with side dishes. But that was a next step.

I will post in the future more on Recipe Keeper app and how I use it to plan my week, and create my grocery list.  Remember, you have to start somewhere.  Stay focused on the steps... each step... one at a time.

Blessings!

A New Thing!

I am just now beginning to understand and recognize my tendencies to go a little overboard.  Ok, maybe I have realized it before.  I mean, those who know and love me have been trying to tell me this for years!  But I had no idea I could possibly do things any differently. I mean, this is just how I am... right? 

At our church, we often talk about taking our next steps toward Jesus. I love this concept. Each service or small group, we are asked to think about what is God saying to us, and what is our next step.  At first, my next step was just to attend church every week.  But each week, there seemed to be another step I was being led to take.  Join a small group, get baptized, attend classes.  I have grown so much over the past two years, living spiritually by this concept of next steps.  Sometimes, it felt like the next steps came so quickly, I was sprinting.  

One service when the pastor asked "What is God saying to you?" I heard "get your house in order."  Ok, God... but what does that mean... I know I am not the best house keeper, and I know we have maintenance that needs to be done, and I really should budget better. My files are a mess.  Not to mention my house really looks like an episode of hoarders with boxes in the window seat, and unable to open the guest room door without causing an avalanche of crafting supplies.  Do you know what you are asking me to do? Get your house in order.  

The task is huge!  I don't know where to begin. I let him know (like he didn't already know this!) that I felt overwhelmed by all the things I wanted and needed to do. It seems I create chaos every time I tried to do something about it. Take it one step at a time. Next steps!  Of course!  What if I started looking for my one next step with the house instead of how big the the mess is.    I asked God to help me!  Would he really help me with something as mundane as figuring out what to do today, clean bathrooms or clean out a cabinet? The answer was yes... if it was something I needed help with, He was willing and able to guide me.  

So I have been taking small next steps, to do what I was told to do... Get your house in order. I started out my making my bed every day.  I spent one day cleaning out the bathroom cabinets. Another day, throwing away boxes in the attic.  Each day, I have been adding good habits to my routine, and spending some time overcoming the chaos in my home.  I certainly am not doing this perfectly.  Lamentations 3:22-23 tells us, His mercy never ends. His mercy is new every morning.  I have clung to this verse, forgiving myself of the mistakes of the previous day.  He has already forgiven me... I am the one who keeps dragging my past mistakes around.  So I didn't do things perfectly... get over it, move on, and try again the next day to get it right.  

So yea, I am just now beginning to get it...  that I can do things differently, I can BE different.  Not in my own power, but in the power of the Holy Spirit, guiding and directing me.  Every time, something within myself or someone tries to tell me, "You've always been this way!" "You won't or can't change".... I hear this verse resonate in my spirit.  

See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? Isaiah 43:19

I tear up every time I say it... He is doing a NEW thing in me!  Yes, I can see it springing forth even now!  

Scattered!

Scattered!  That is what it feels like to live in my mind!  I have so many interest, thoughts, ideas, directions to explore.  It is challenging to focus on one thing in order to get that one thing done.  I know I am not alone in this based on the YouTube channels I have been watching lately.  Remember me saying Wellness is about more than just what you eat?  My wellness journey is focusing right now on organizing, getting rid of stuff, bringing order to my home.  These are NOT my strengths!  This past month, it feels like I have made very little progress, and if you look around my home, it feels like it is worse than it was before I started this endeavor!

But thanks to one of my favorite you-tubers, I know this is process that can't be done in a single day or a week.  I found Clutterbug while I was searching for organizing tips.  It has been encouraging to hear her journey and learn from her tips.  Check out her playlist 12 Days of Clutter .

What progress have I made in making permanent changes?  

1) I make my bed everyday.  I started to say every morning... but truth be told... sometimes, it is an hour before my husband comes home from work.  But I make it fully... pretty pillows, bunny rabbit and all!

2) I got rid of 4 garbage bags of clothes!  Ok... not really gone yet, as they are in the garage with the idea I might have a garage sale soon.  

3) I painted my craft room!  Everything looks better with a fresh coat of paint!  I didn't have a place to totally empty the room so the act of painting meant everything was moved to the middle of the room, to make the space around the edges to move around and paint.  I do not recommend this as a preferred painting or organizing technique!

So that was June... No, the craft room is not completely done yet.  There is still some putting away that needs to be done... and the fact is, I have too much STUFF!!!  I will post later on the final results!  

I struggle with letting go of things I might need one day.  But one thing Clutterbug said, was to ask yourself... "what is the worst possible thing that could happen if you do get rid of xyz?" Basically, you might have to buy it again.  And truth is, the stuff I am hanging on to has very little monetary value, so replacing it really won't be too much of a issue IF I end up needing it after all.  

So that is my tidbits for today!  Just take some steps toward what you want.  Don't expect perfection. Celebrate the steps you do take.  And then take a next step toward the goal.  I will get there... so can you! 

Blessings!  

Welcome to my Living 4 Wellness Blog!

When I started thinking what Wellness meant to me, my journey took me many directions!

My family started down the path to trying to live a healthier life a few years ago when it seemed one of us was always sick with one thing or another.  I was overweight, moody, tired, stressed-out... physically, mentally and spiritually at rock bottom.  I grew concerned about taking so many medications but never getting better.  Getting old was not easy!  This could not be the way it was suppose to be!  I was determined to find a better way to live!

My sister shared with me how using essential oils had helped her migraines.  I started learning how to use essential oils to promote my own health.  I left my corporate IT job to focus on my family and started working at a chiropractic clinic.  There I learned more about letting the body heal itself.  I started growing spiritually in my faith, when we found a new church home.  Time with Jesus became a daily part of my life and my thoughts about myself and my life began to change. I began reading books about eating healthy, fresh foods. I started learning about the chemicals in our food, cleaning and beauty products. I was shocked to learn about the impact of sugar and processed foods to not just our weight, but our health!  I grew more and more concerned with the types of products I buy.  It becomes a little overwhelming when you start to really think about Wellness as a whole!

So why the Living 4 Wellness blog?  I started this blog because I wanted to lose weight and track my journey.  But focusing on Wellness, means this blog will cover many more topics other than weight loss, food and recipes.  For me, wellness includes my faith, my home, my body, my attitude... let's face it, Wellness is the foundation of who you are in every aspect of your being.

So welcome to my blog!  Let's see where this path to Wellness takes us together!