Monkeying Around

I just deleted a whole long piece talking about my limitations and how that affects me being able to exercise. I just got frustrated with how negative all of it sounded!  So, I think I'll just change my focus today--let's talk about food!! Mmmmmm!

Last night I was flipping through one of my Cooking Light magazines and found a recipe for monkey bread that had been adapted to reduce sodium, yeah I said sodium. What? I had never thought about the sodium, I was busy worrying about the sugar content and fat content in our baked goods. I knew convenience foods usually contain a ton of sodium, but Pillsbury biscuits? Really? I started thinking about that. We have tried to limit the amount of boxed foods mostly for environmental reasons, and usually buy low sodium, fat free, etc. when we do get them. We watch for MSG and try to limit junk food, but it isn't always easy. Who has the time to mix, knead, and cut biscuits anyway? Ok maybe you do, but I don't. Well, maybe I do, but I don't have the energy. Wait, if I don't have the energy, then why am I making monkey bread? Awe heck. Ok, it's not that hard to make biscuits from scratch, I get it.

I realized I need to make some small weekly and monthly goals based on my bigger resolutions. So, we want to eat healthier. (Gotta get through all the left over holiday junk food, I just can't bring myself to throw it away.)

Healthy Eating Goal #1

• Give 2 dinners a week a "healthy makeover" and try 1 new healthy recipe; blog about it.

Oh, by the way, here's the original Grands Monkey Bread Recipe:
http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/grands-monkey-bread/7a1e41b1-4708-4028-8ce6-fcb5baebbc19/

And here's the Cooking Light Monkey Bread make over:
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/monkey-bread-50400000115833/

Darren and I talked about playing with substituting Splenda to cut back the sugar.

Remember how I said I wanted screen time to be more educational? Ok, it could be heathier too and the kids reminded me of that by asking to play Wii Fit this morning instead of watching cartoons! YAY!!

Do you have some ideas about some goals we could make? Or how about some healthy recipes?

New Years Resolutions

Every body's new resolution always seems to be to get healthier, loose weight, etc. and our family is no exception. Each and every one of the six people in our household suffers from one disorder or another from ADHD and asthma, to FM/CFS/ME and sleep disorders.We all need to improve our eating habits, physical strength, and for my husband and I . . . loose weight. We struggle with conquering our health and feeling normal on an everyday basis. For me, some days its a struggle just to get out of bed. I know that this sounds like a family of hypochondriacs, and maybe you might judge us that way, but what does it matter if our end goal is simply to be healthy? Some may argue that many of the disorders we have aren't real, and just in our heads. In that case, I'd love to let you live in my body for a day and try to accomplish what you did yesterday. Or my son's and try to do math problems while your sisters (or classmates) supply endless distractions. You could go to work as exhausted as my husband does every day and try to function.This seems a lot to tackle in a new years resolution right? Yeah, but I have a whole year!! So let's move on . . .

Another resolution that many people make is to limit the amount of media exposure in their home/life. My goal for our family is to make that time we spend in front of the TV, iPod, laptop, or tablet more educational. Already I fight this nearly everyday and the only one I win with is my 4 year old who loves Nick Jr, enough said right? Ah, but getting the TV turned off when mom is constantly sick is just as much a problem as what they watch!

Last but not least, I want my house clean. That seems so simple, and if it were just me it would be;6 people, busy schedules, and lack of motivation makes it frustratingly difficult.

So those are my resolutions. I want to say I will write everyday about how we are doing and where we are at with them, but we will see. This blog may take on a life of it's own and have nothing to do with improving our lives . . . who knows?

What are your resolutions?