Eating Clean 12 Days of Christmas -- Body Butter

Along with lip balm and body scrub, I also made some homemade body butter. Seriously, this was ridiculously easy. You take coconut oil, add it to your mixer, and just let it whip into a luscious, creamy mixture. Add in several drops of essential oils if you want a scent other than coconut and put into jars. Really, that's it! 

You only have to use a little on your body to go a long way too. I used too much and it ended up feeling too greasy. 




What I spent:
Coconut Oil -- $6.97
Essential Oil -- $3.99 (I only used about 1/3 so $1.33)
Jars -- $7.00 

Total cost -- $15.30 or $1.53 per jar

Some More Fall Crafts Courtesy of Pinterest

While everyone else has seemed to move onto Christmas, I'm still enjoying Fall and decided to try some autumn-themed decorations I had seen on Pinterest.

The first was a pumpkin made out of mason jar or canning jar rings. I had about a dozen left over from canning this summer, so had to buy another box. You can find them for around $3 for a dozen at Wal-Mart, a dollar store, Kroger, etc. 

Lay all the rings out on a piece of cardboard or paper and spray paint with inexpensive orange spray paint (avoid the day-glo orange though!). Flip them over after they dry and paint the other side. Let dry completely, then put them all on a string (all facing the same direction) and tie the string in a knot, arranging the rings into a circle/pumpkin shape. You'll have to tie a pretty tight knot for it to keep its shape. You can do any number of things for the stem and leaf....I opted to use rolled up burlap and a green ribbon. I've also seen them done with a stick and green felt, string, etc.

Since I had the orange spray paint out already, my second project was another pumpkin, this time made from wine corks. Pull out 25 wine corks, spray paint orange (one side at a time) and glue together in a pumpkin shape using hot glue. Start with four, then five, then six, then five, then four. Again, for the stem and leaf you could do about anything, I used burlap and ribbon.

Transforming Old Windows

I love love love the look of old windows reused for other purposes. I had found a cheap window at a junk sale for $15. I wanted to add one of our wedding pics behind it and use it as artwork for the wall behind our bed in our bedroom. 

For the photo, I measured the inside of the window and then uploaded and ordered a custom size large print. I think mine ended up being almost 16x20 and I found that at that time, Walgreens had the best prices on large custom prints (the 16x20 was around $5 with coupons). Do a quick Google search before you order to find any coupon codes or photo deals. 

Just take the photo and secure to the back of the window frame. Add frame hangers so you can hang up on the wall. Voila! Old window into new artwork!

Have a Seat - Updating Two Chairs

The hubs and I recently took on two different DIY chair projects.

I had found an old antique bankers chair at a garage sale for $10. We sanded it down and repainted it a glossy black to give it an updated, Pottery Barn look. We're planning on reselling it and hopefully making a pretty hefty profit. Pottery Barn sells theirs for over $200, so we're hoping just to get $100 and make a $90 profit. Not bad for a couple hours' work!

For the second project, I had been wanting an armchair for our bedroom. My mom found me a cheap, old and ugly chair that had great bones, and we repainted and reupholstered it in a much better color and pattern :) We ended up doing the chair for about $50...$35 for the chair, $10 for the fabric and $5 for the paint.

Saving Green Birthday Parties

For my kiddos birthday parties, I utilized some awesome decor ideas I had found on Pinterest and online that saved me some green. 

I used inexpensive cardstock, scrapbook paper and ribbon and twine to make birthday banners. I printed out the letters on my computer and cut them out to save even more money, but you could find cheap chip letters at Michaels or Hobby Lobby. Check out the tutorial here.

For Liesl's party, I created a pretty, girly background with three plastic tablecloths. (Here's that tutorial) I also made my own tissue paper pom poms. (Tutorial here) 

For the table and other decor, I ended up choosing themes where I had a lot of the toys/props I could use. For Gavin's barnyard party, I used all his tractors, farm animals, etc. For Liesl's My Little Pony party, we pulled out all her ponies to use as table decor. 

 All in all, both parties turned out great. Clean food and green saving decor made for happy guests, very happy birthday boy and girl and a happy Momma :)

Thanksgiving Decor

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE Fall?? Another Pinterest inspired project and some more money saved! 

I love the look of the bunting-type banners, but they are pretty expensive if you buy them in Etsy. Instead, I made my own and it was super easy and super cheap. In Publisher (you could use Word too) pick a font you love, type out whatever words you want in about 200-250 size and print on colored paper. Cut around the letters in a triangle shape, paste on another colored sheet and cut around another larger triangle. Attach to a line of twine with wooden clothespins.

I Saw, I Pinned, I Conquered Part Four

This is a Pinterest project I've had pinned for over a year, and finally we had collected enough bits and pieces of old crayons. Whenever your kiddos break a crayon or you get down to the stubbies, save those pieces, peel off all the paper and put into silicon baking cups or molds. Put in the oven at 250 degrees for 15 minutes. Take out of the oven and let harden. Out comes fun-shaped, very colorful crayons!

I Saw, I Pinned, I Conquered, Part Two

When we finished our basement, my one requirement was a really nice laundry room. If my washer and dryer have to be in the basement, I want them to be in a nice room. I also wanted my laundry room to serve as a craft/wrapping room too, so I was on the lookout for storage to go in it. Everything I found that was new was pretty expensive, so, of course, I turned to Pinterest and found tons of refinished pieces. 
The dressing table was free from a friend of a friend (thanks Sarah and Amy!). After a good sanding, several coats of gray paint, new knobs and inexpensive scrapbook paper inside the windows on the drawers, it went from plain to pizzazz!. 

I also wanted some cute wall decor that wouldn't cost a lot, and found that someone on Pinterest had taken plain canvases and wrapped them in fabric. Instead of canvases, I found the canvas frames at Michael's for cheap (around $2-3 per frame) and covered in fabric (found in the discount bin for $1.99 a yard). Voila! Instant wall art for just a few dollars. 

I Saw, I Pinned, I Conquered

While this doesn't really have anything to do with clean eating, I thought it would be fun to do a series of posts that show stuff I pinned on Pinterest that I actually do and that saves some money (saving green!). When pinning, we have so many good intentions, but unfortunately, most of the time they don't pan out.

So, I want to show you some of the Pinterest projects I've done that have saved me time, money or a little bit of both. 

The first is a wall of clocks for a home office. I loved this idea for Matt's home office and so I bought three very inexpensive clocks (check out Lowes, Hobby Lobby and Wal-Mart or scour local garage sales) and scattered them on the wall with maps of the three states were we've lived since we've been married. The maps came from an old atlas my parents had laying around and the frames are from old barn wood we had extra of from a different project. I added some old suitcases and old set of drawers as side tables. 



I love this look of the old license plates to add a splash of color and whimsy to a room. We had a bunch of old license plates from all the states were we've lived as a married couple and growing up and so I took them and attached them to a piece of lightweight MDF with wood glue. My hubby added on brackets on the back to hang it up and voila, a fun look at all the states my husband and I have lived in. 

What Pinterest projects have you followed up on??

Diagornos Frozen Pizza

We tried another all-natural frozen pizza this weekend. This one was a DiGiorno Pizzaria! (the exclamation point really makes it appealing ;) supreme  pizza. The crust had no preservatives and the sauce, cheese and toppings were all-natural. I decided to try it because it was on sale at Kroger for $5.99 and with my $1.50 off coupon, it was only $4.50. I'm so glad I decided to try it because it was awesome! The crust baked up nice and crispy, the sauce was subtle and there were lots of great toppings. The amount of cheese was lacking, but I just added some extra shredded mozzarella. I thought it was better than the Newman's Own pizza we tried a few weeks back. (Sorry for the sideways picture...I cannot get it to load correctly!) It's nice to see companies coming out with more and more all-natural convenience products! Makes my life easier ;)

Days 24 and 25--No-Crust Pizza

Day 24


Breakfast--nothing
Mid-morning snack--nothing 
Lunch--plain chicken salad
Afternoon snack--peanuts
Dinner--Yankee Doodle roast...mama's in town and she loves Yankee Doodle roast :)
Bedtime snack--Nature Valley Granola Thin
On a side note, I save 44 percent at Kroger today and I would say 90 percent was all-natural...awesome!!! 

Workout--Insanity Plyometrics

Day 25

Breakfast--banana and peanut butter
Mid-morning snack--nothing 
Lunch--Scotty's Brewhouse--half buffalo chicken wrap and side salad with red pepper vinigrette
Afternoon snack--peanuts and chocolate chips
Dinner--No-Crust Pizza--it was sooo good! Tasted just like regular pizza.

Bedtime snack--Nature Valley Granola Thin

Workout--elliptical

No-Crust Pizza

Crust
1 (8 oz) package of cream cheese, room temperature
2 eggs
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Topping
1/2 cup pizza sauce
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
toppings - pepperoni, ham, sausage, mushrooms, peppers
Garlic powder

Preheat oven to 350.
Lightly spray a 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray. With a handheld mixer, mix cream cheese, eggs, pepper, garlic powder and Parmesan cheese until combined. Spread into baking dish. Bake for 12-15 minutes, our until golden brown. Allow crust to cool for 10 minutes.
Spread pizza sauce on crust. Top with cheese and toppings. Sprinkle pizza with garlic powder. Bake 8-10 minutes, until cheese is melted.

Day 13 and 14--Awesome stock up grocery trip

Day 13
Nothing new yesterday or today! The DH has been away on business, and so I've been uninspired at dinner time. 

Breakfast--banana
Mid-morning snack--nothing 
Lunch--salad with walnuts and Russian dressing
Afternoon snack--Cheese Itz and some chocolate chips (G's been sick, and unfortunately I use food as a comfort :P)
Dinner--Penne pasta with red sauce, carrots and ranch

Bedtime snack--More chocolate chips

Workout--25 min elliptical

Day 14

Breakfast--banana
Mid-morning snack--nothing 
Lunch--turkey pastrami (it's almost gone!) and Pepsi Max
Afternoon snack--chocolate chips
Dinner--Skyline chili on hot dogs with mustard and cheese (I told you there were certain things I couldn't give up! Although, I'm not sure how unnatural Skyline is since they don't list any of its ingredients!) and carrots and dip

Bedtime snack--peanut butter

Workout--Insanity Core Cardio

 $$ Saving Green Alert! $$
Kroger is running it's buy 10, get $5 off promotion...I love these because when you combine items with coupons, you can get some major savings! They are also a great time to stock up your pantry. In the picture I've just included the items in the Buy 10 promotion. I didn't get everything all natural, about 50%.

All-Natural
Mom's Best Cereal $.99/box
Ragu $.87 each after promotion and coupon
Hunt's Tomato Paste $.49/each
Wholly Guacamole $.49 each for 3 after promotion and coupons
Rotel all 6 were free after coupons
Peanuts $2.49/each after promotion and coupon



Not-so-natural
Cheese-Itz $1.99/each after promotion and coupon
Goldfish $.99 each
Tuna $.49/each for 4 after promotion and coupons
Lunch meat $1.99 each after promotion and coupons
Turkey Pepperoni $2.49

The toothbrushes I just threw in because I got all three for free :) They were 10 for $10 and I had three $.50 coupons that doubled. 

Overall, with all my other groceries, I saved $55.30 or 41%. 

Eating Clean Day 5--Granola Bars

Speaking of all-natural, check out G's "all-natural" spike and mohawk :)

















Breakfast--banana
Mid-morning snack--nothing 
Lunch--leftover pork carnitas and peppers
Afternoon snack--two spoonfuls peanut butter

Dinner--Pasta with meat sauce 
I found that Barilla's whole wheat pasta is all natural and tastes pretty darn close to regular white pasta. For the sauce I used Prego (all-natural!! Yay!!) and added in some lean ground beef. $$ Both Barilla and Prego go on sale every 3 months or so at Kroger and usually have a coupon during that time too, so I stock up when they are 10 for $10. With coupons, that means I can get Barilla for anything from free to 66 cents a box and Prego about $1 a jar. $$
Bedtime snack--nothing
Workout--P90X Plyometrics

My kiddos LOVE granola bars and cereal bars, but unfortunately, both are chocked full of preservatives. I found some natural ones at Trader's Joes and was pleasantly surprised that they weren't much more expensive than what I usually buy. 

Here's a look at what I usually buy...not a great picture, but the ingredient list shows lots of unpronounceable ingredients. 

 

Here are the Trader Joe variety...not completely void of preservatives, but better than the others. My next adventure will be to make my own granola bars to completely cut out additives.

$$ Saving Green Alert! $$

Usually, I stock up on the Fiber 1 and other granola bars when they are on sale and I have coupon, which means I can usually get them for about $2 a box. The Trader Joe granola bars were only $2.49 regular price...pretty decent!

Day 6 Cleanse

Day 6...officially over half way through the cleanse! Still taking the probiotics in the morning, herbal cleanse pills at night and I've added fish oil pills during lunch.

Breakfast--Green Monster Smoothie...I found out about these bad boys from my friend Bethany and her marathon training blog. There are many different versions; mine is banana, peanut butter, spinach and half-n-half. 

Mid-morning snack--handful of peanuts
Lunch--salad with walnuts and ranch dressing spray Afternoon snack--peanut butter
Dinner--chicken fajitas sans tortillas (is it still a fajita?)--red and yellow peppers, onions, avocado, salsa and a little cheese

Evening snack--two spoonfuls of peanut butter
Herbal pills before bed and LOTS of water all day

Workout--Insanity plyometrics cardio circuit

$$ Homemade Taco Seasoning $$

I've been making my own taco and fajita seasoning. The pre-made packets are convenient and cheap, but chocked full of preservatives and additives. The homemade mix keeps well and does not contain any unrecognizable ingredients, plus I figured out it costs me about $1 to make one batch, which equals about 4 to 5 uses. That's about $.20 a use, compared to about a $1.00 for one packet. Not a huge savings, but every little bit counts. So, I'm not only clean, I'm saving money!

Here's the recipe:

Homemade Taco Seasoning

4 teaspoons onion powder

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Mix well and store in an airtight container. 

  

What's with this eating clean??

I'm definitely not a granola-eating, organic, all-natural kind of girl. However, I recently came across the concept of clean eating and it sparked my interest for a few reasons:

* I've recently run into some minor health issues and family history has revealed some potential future issues. I am hoping eating clean will help alleviate the current issues and prevent any future issues. 

* I have always been athletic and into fitness, but have realized that diet plays a huge role in overall weight loss, weight management and health. As I get older (30 in February!!), my metabolism continues to slow down and I can't rely on just working out to keep my girlish figure :)

* I want to teach my kids how to eat healthy and make good food choices.

Starting January 1, my family will start to "eat clean" and attempt to eat food that are natural, with only ingredients we can pronounce, no preservatives and no additives. This blog will chronicle our adventures and the process it takes to change our eating habits. We definitely will not be quitting processed foods cold turkey, but will take a gradual approach. We also will not give up processed foods completely...for us, it's all about moderation! I want to aim for 75% natural, 25% not-so-natural. :)

The second part of the blog will be eating clean while saving money. I'm an avid couponer who finds a lot of great deals on processed foods. I want to see if I can get the same savings with natural foods. Eating organic and natural foods can be expensive...$5 for a gallon of organic milk, twice the cost for organic produce...I want to see if I can save as much or more money eating clean as I do eating regular and processed foods.