Fit Mama's Most Used, No-Fail Recipes 2012

As I got out my spaghetti/pizza sauce recipe this afternoon, I realized just how much I use that recipe.  The paper is covered in tomato sauce.  Yes, I like paper when I'm following my recipes.  I don't even know why I got out the recipe.  I have made it so many times, I know it by heart.  I realized that there are certain recipes I make over and over, my family's absolute favorites. Any given day I have at least one of these dishes working in the kitchen.  These recipes are guaranteed (by me) to be NO-FAIL!  SO, here they are:

Sides
Roasted GB - recipe found here on Skinnytaste.com

My dinner meal plan and shopping list week of 8-10-12

I am making my trip to the grocery store today and the farmer's market tomorrow and here is the list I'm taking with me:

Meal Plan Shopping list
Store	Item	$
FM	eggs
FM	cucumbers
FM	zucchini
FM	squash
FM	2 tomatoes
FM	cherry tomatoes
FM	white onion
FM	red onion
FM	carrots
FM	orange, yellow, red bell peppers
FM	1 lb baby potatoes
FM	green beans
FM	brussel sprouts (or other veg for sides)
WF	organic mushrooms
WM	parsley
WM	organic romaine lettuce
WM	2 avocado
WM	sweet potatoes
WF	organic turkey bacon
WF	1.5 lb organic ground turkey
WF	organic chicken sausage links
WM	16 oz organic chicken cutlet halves
WF	organicmonterey jack cheese
WF	clean whole grain corn tortillas
WM	ww mac noodles
WM	can organic  tomato sauce (3)
WM	can organic tomato paste
	Meals:
	Chicken enchiladas
	Turkey MB with sauteed zucchini and side salad
	Bacon mac n cheese with mixed veg and side salad
	Chicken piccata with roasted veg and sweet potatoes
	Vegetable tostadas
	Breakfast for dinner: eggs, bacon, pancakes and/or toast
	Summer vegetables with sausage and potatoes

WM= Walmart
WF= Whole Foods
FM= Farmers Market

I will post my recipes during the week as I make these meals to ensure family satisfaction.  And I will post an update with the prices after my shopping trip.

The truth behind school lunches

I have 2 kiddos that will be starting school again next week and I've already been thinking a lot about what I should put in their lunchboxes on the first day.  It made me think about the fact that less than 2 years ago, I sent my daughter to school with no lunch box at all.  She ate the school lunch EVERY day.  There may be some fit mamas out there that also allowing your kiddo to eat school lunch, not knowing exactly what the school is serving them each day. 

What Fit Family Takes to the Pool/Park/Zoo

If you have gotten 1 thing from my blogs, it hopefully is the importance of planning ahead.  This is VITAL to a healthy family.  Whether I'm heading out to the pool, splash pad or the zoo for the day, I ALWAYS have a cooler full of snacks, waters, and usually even lunch for the kiddos.  I never want to be caught off guard with hungry, cranky kids, in a position to where I would be forced to feed them junk food (from the concession stand or fast food joint).

I took the kiddos to the pool today and here is what I brought:

How to maintain your (and your kids') healthy eating routine while on vacation

This last week, my husband and I enjoyed an 8 day long beach vacation away from the kiddos.  Although it was very hard to be away from them, it was MUCH needed!

 Beautiful sunsets!

 Love!

The only things I had to worry about were which bathing suit I was going to wear and where we were going to eat dinner.  No crying babies or dirty diapers..it was AWESOME!

So how do you go on an 8 day vacation and not gain 10 (or more) lbs?  Especially with this type of temptation:

Recipe catch up: Kid friendly whole wheat pizza pockets, baked tilapia, pork tacos, plus much more!

This blog post will be mostly dedicated to catching up with you on some recipes I've been cooking lately.  Most of my meals have come from 100 Days of Real Food.  I really recommend her site for anyone who wants fairly simple kid-friendly recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  She cooks with only "real food" (clean).  The only downside to some of her recipes is the amount of butter and oil many of her recipes call for.  Although it is all "real" butter, it is still super fatty and not a healthy fat, at that.  So when I cook her stuff in the future, I may try and sub out the butter for banana or applesauce (if it's a baked good).  So anyway, here are some of the things I've been cooking up:

Lunches

• baby spinach, carrots, zucchini, squash, cucumbers, mixed with fresh cracked pepper and my lightened up goddess dressing (recipe here on my FB page)

• 1/4 c cooked organic quinoa, sautéed chopped zucchini, squash, cherry tomatoes, red onion, mixed with lightened up goddess dressing

• Pasta salad (adapted from 100 days of real food)

Here is the recipe:

Yummy lemon garlic slow cooker chicken meal plus BEST EVER healthy brownies!!

Well, hello there!  I have been MIA lately from my blogs since we were on vacation.  We had an AWESOME time in San Antonio, on our 2nd annual family trip.  Here I am with Eli & Sophie on our balcony at the hotel:

 And our whole family in front of the hotel on our last day: