I've been eating clean for almost 2 years. I will give the disclaimer that I DO enjoy simple pleasures like going out to eat and stuff, because that 10% of sweets and fats isn't going to kill me as long as I'm on top of my real food 90% of the time. Anyways, people are always sort of shocked when they hear that I clean eat and meal plan every, single, week. I'm chubby, but that doesn't mean that I don't work out 3 times a week or eat like crap. In fact, it was those stigmas and judgements that encouraged me to share what I do. I have a budget of $60 for my husband and I to eat per week. That includes breakfast, lunches, and dinner.
Saturday is my prep day. I'm a teacher so it's the most convenient day. I write out my days Sunday to Sunday and fill out what we will be having breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks each day. Popcorn and bagged frozen edemame are some of my favorite snacks. :) I buy groceries 1-2 times a week. Here's some of my tricks:
Save Your Pennies!
Shop the store ads! Buy Bountiful Baskets! I love Bountiful Baskets because they challenge me to work the veggies and fruits I get into my menu, even if they're ones I'm unfamiliar with like okra or artichokes! I definitely make my menu around why the in-store sales are. If pork tenderloin is on sale, but steak isn't, then I load up on tenderloins for my freezer.
If you live in an area with multiple grocery stores, then feel free to shop at more than one store to get what you need! The mo' ads, the mo' betta. Stock up on items like chicken broth, greek yogurts, olive/coconut oils, frozen fruits and veggies, meat, fish, almond milk, etc. when it goes on sale.
My local store does "Fill it Fresh for $10" where you can fill a peck bag full of produce for 10 bucks! It's my favorite thing! Yesterday I bought 18 lbs of produce (pineapples, apples, oranges, sweet potatoes, grapefruit, bananas, cauliflower) for $10 bucks. Like I said, find your sweet deals. ;)
All About that Produce, Bout that Produce
My secrets to making sure produce gets used is: 1. Buy only what you need. 2. Freeze what you don't use. 3. Prep it all as SOON as you're home from the grocery store.
A head of lettuce has the potential to go bad if it's not sliced and washed when you get home. Why? Because as Americans prepping stuff is daunting when we're exhausted. You are more likely to eat salad when it's readily available. It also makes for quick throw together lunches.
I cut up my pineapple, lettuce, etc. as soon as I start putting away groceries.
On my menu, I schedule meals with produce that go bad the most quickly first. Example: salads, strawberries, bananas, avocados, mushrooms, asparagus, grapes, etc. and eat more produce that lasts afterwards. Produce that stays good for a while are: apples, grapefruit, sweet potatoes, cauliflower, carrots, brussel sprouts, broccoli, kale, zucchini.
Meatless Mondays
I try for one-two nights a week of meatless meals because meat is expensive, and there are other health benefits that accompany it. My favorite meatless meals are veggie stir fry with quinoa, and loaded veggies on a baked sweet potato. YUM! My favorites.
Pinterest is a treasure trove for a clean eater/vegetarian. Here are some recipes I've tried that I'm obsessed with:
http://damndelicious.net/2012/10/19/quinoa-veggie-fried-rice-and-a-giveaway/
http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/clean-eating-4-bean-chili/
http://juliasalbum.com/2014/07/strawberry-quinoa-spinach-cashew-salad/
If I'm home alone (my hubby works nights) I'll eat a bowl of air popped popcorn or a baked potato.
Make That Menu!
Like I said earlier. I make my menu on Saturday so that I can get my lunches prepped ahead of time.
For lunch, I either take leftovers, or I eat things like: greek yogurt+fruit, rice cakes+almond butter+banana, tuna fish + wak crackers, frozen steam in the bag edemame, or popcorn. (I'm a popcorn addict ok!? I put coconut oil on it to replace butter.) I will throw a salad together occasionally. :)
I also keep it simple for breakfast. I am obsessed with Tera's Whey protein powder, and will usually make a shake with an It Works Greens packet. Yum! I'll work on another post about what I put in my breakfast smoothies. Steel cut oats are another addiction for me. I have the 3 minute/microwave steel cut oats, but you can also make them in the crock pot. I take a greek yogurt, tea, and a banana if i'm in a hurry :)
Dinner… oh dinner… you're the best. Here's an example of my dinner meal prep schedule. It guides my shopping schedule.
Sunday: cauliflower mash and turkey meatloaf balls (http://www.mamaeatsclean.com/2013/03/clean-and-low-carb-twice-baked-mashed.html?m=1)
Mon: pork chop salads
Tues: steak with roasted sweet potatoes and asparagus
Wed: tin foil dinner in the oven (lean beef burgers, mushrooms, zucchini)
Thurs: turkey burger tacos
Fri: loaded baked sweet potato topped with brussel sprouts, mushrooms, zucchini (meatless)
Sat: chicken and veggie stir fry on quinoa
Sun: strawberry field salad (poppyseed dressing, turkey bacon, almonds, mozzarella, spinach, strawberries.)
Another example of a menu:
Sun: Sweet pork salads (pork tenderloin, apricot preserves, salsa in crockpot)
Mon: Teriyaki Salmon w/ veggies and brown rice
Tues: Zuppa Toscana (http://www.clarkscondensed.com/recipe/light-paleo-zuppa-toscana/)
Wed: Turkey Asian lettuce wraps (http://iowagirleats.com/2011/04/26/p-f-changs-lettuce-wraps-remade/)
Thurs: Chicken, broccoli, quinoa casserole (http://damndelicious.net/2014/03/05/broccoli-quinoa-casserole/)
Fri: Sweet Potato Nachos (http://paleogrubs.com/nacho-recipe)
Sat: Cauliflower pizza w/ alfredo sauce and veggies (
Sunday, March 8, 2015
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
the TRUTH about Common Core
*Gasp!!!!* Yes, I said it. Common Core. Scary, huh? Not so much. Not for me. Teaching is my one true passion (well, besides learning, but I guess the two are pretty much best friends.)
I'm here to clarify some things that the media (and a herd of angry activists) do NOT want you to know. I'm also hoping to shed light on something that could possibly be the biggest blessing that the educational world has been given for a LONG time.
1. Common Core will TAKE TIME
Like every change, there is an adjustment period. When a child starts school at a new school, do you automatically assume that everything will work out flawlessly for them from hour one? NO. Transition period is inevitable, no matter what change is taking place. Common Core is a total change from what the nation is used to. Many teachers headed home on the retirement train as soon as CC was brought into play because they feared the change, because it's huge. (It really is.)
You can't change the way we learn over night. I really do have empathy for 4th-12th graders who have learned in a different way, and then have to change their way of thinking. It's difficult to go from 2+2=4 to "Johnny has 4 apples all together. Some are green and some are red. What are some possible combinations of red and green apples could Johnny have?" It's completely up for interpretation, and GUESS WHAT there's always more than one way to get the "right" answer.
Some of the methodology seems different and confusing for NOW, but after it's been grandfathered in, it will be great. Some people don't want to offer it the time to become streamlined and effective, they just want to kill it before it's instigated and given a fair trail run.
2. It's about the PROCESS not the PRODUCT
The common core standards are VERY open for a teacher's interpretation of what they mean. As teachers we are given the right to teach how we want to teach, as long as we use these given state guidelines and curriculum. That's the beauty of it.
Common Core isn't about memorization. (Which, when I was in school, it was about how much I could remember for "the test". Common core encourages students to think more deeply, to make connections to other things, and to develop higher level thinking skills. It helps our students to become better problem solvers, communicators, and develops self-confidence, because it provides them opportunities to investigate rather than do a million drills of "remember this" and "remember that". It's finding a deep love and understanding of multiplication, rather than just remembering the facts that go with them. It's using multiple strategies for multiplication rather than just ADDING numbers. Did you know that there's at LEAST 20 different ways to do multiplication? Yep. One method is even done using JUST your 10 fingers. In all honesty, the Chinese way of doing it is REALLY intriguing. Watch the strategy here, it's pretty awesome: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n97nmGGlBf4
It's no longer about WHAT you can remember to throw up on a test, it's about HOW you're going to approach a given problem in real life.
3. About the TEST it's about RESULTS
One of the most misunderstood parts of CC is that it's LESS pressure for teachers to teach for "the test". Will these first years be rough? Yes. "The Test", or SBAC testing, will be daunting until our students are prepared for it. (Which, as I stated above, will take years.) The Common Core standards are based off of "scaffolding", which is the idea that students learn based off what they already know.
The hope is that this national test will reflect areas of strengths and weakness across the board. What is going right in education? What may one area of the country be lacking, that another is excelling at? How can we remediate this?
As a teacher, teaching is all about assessment (yes, assessment means TESTING). I assess myself daily to make sure that I'm using reflection as a tool to make me a better, more effective, teacher. I informally rate myself on "How did this lesson go?" "How could it have been enhanced?" "Where there any areas I could've addressed better?" "What can I do next time?" "How did the students respond?" "Did they deeply understand the material?" I then use these results to drive how I instruct. Assessment is a tool. It is used to show growth and progress. Without assessments, school would be useless because we would have no way to improve. Assessment means the opportunity to improve.
4. It's About Streamlining Education from State to State
Yes, it's true. People actually think that the president is using common core to start a Hitler Youth inspired fascist campaign. Little do people know that Obama's policies are more communist than fascist. (Just saying.) Anyways, if you want to watch the conspiracy, go ahead and watch this little diddy: http://www.redflagnews.com/headlines/shock-report-obama-forming-hitler-youth-under-common-core
One of the goals of CC is to have a streamlined education system that carries over from state to state. This is in the hopes that if a child moves from Honolulu to Idaho Falls, ID that they will have been studying the same (or similar) things. Having this common goal (there's a pun!) allows teachers from ALL OVER THE COUNTRY to collaborate and communicate ideas for different units, plans, and activities. This benefits ALL children because their teacher is getting to pick the brains of other wonderful teachers.
Homogenizing the standards for reading, writing, and math helps maintain the integrity of state standards in science and social studies. You can incorporate these state standards in with the CC standards and have a beautiful thing :)
5. Old Fashioned vs New Age
When I was in school I was taught one way to subtract. I was taught to count backwards and "take numbers away" from other numbers. Learning styles are diverse. We cannot address every student the same. Taking away may not WORK for a student, which means they will be left in the dust because they don't understand something… so what do we do as teachers when this happens? Well, the old way meant we would RE-TEACH the taking away method and drill and kill until they finally understood. Guys, that isn't appropriate. The new-age teacher would recognize that the student struggles with counting backwards and would provide the student with the opportunity to use a number line and use the "counting up" method of subtraction.
Learning is NOT one size fits all. What makes sense for one student, may sound like some strange language to another.
Common Core lets us explore this idea. It lets teachers investigate how each child learns, and how to best reach them. Common Core allows us to provide a variety of methods and strategies to allow our students be successful. It makes education less "right" and "wrong", and less "black" and "white". The gray area is worth celebrating! Common Core allows me teach my students multiple methods to find the "right" answer. Even if they get the "incorrect" answer, I applaud their efforts along the way. I praise their thought process. I praise investigation and exploration. It allows children a chance to THINK. It allows them to form opinions, express thoughts, start discussions, ask questions, discover new ideas, see past the obvious, and try new things.
Yes, the old fashioned way of learning worked for some people, and that is great. The "old fashioned" way of learning is comfortable. It's like a pair of Toms that you don't want to get rid of because they were really excellent shoes, even though they have massive holes in them. (I'm so guilty of that. I hate throwing out shoes.) My education growing up was a wonderful one that I have always cherished, but we also have to take into consideration the changing times and the changing pressures in the world pertaining to college preparation and career opportunities for the next generation.
The bottom line:
The media is misconstrued. It's full of fallacies to meet personal agendas. If I believed what the media told me all the time I would be living a miserable life. I hope this article was meaningful in helping to ease fears about new standards. It's intimidating. I know it is. But, just because it's a big change, doesn't mean it's not a great change. Is Common Core perfect? No. There will need to be tweaks as we go. It will take time. It will take effort, but it will be worth the try either way. Major changes are always scary, and it's good to be skeptical, but it's also good to take the time to research past the headlines.
“Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.”
― Frank Zappa
“Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.”
― Martin Luther King Jr.
Also… I love this.
I'm here to clarify some things that the media (and a herd of angry activists) do NOT want you to know. I'm also hoping to shed light on something that could possibly be the biggest blessing that the educational world has been given for a LONG time.
1. Common Core will TAKE TIME
Like every change, there is an adjustment period. When a child starts school at a new school, do you automatically assume that everything will work out flawlessly for them from hour one? NO. Transition period is inevitable, no matter what change is taking place. Common Core is a total change from what the nation is used to. Many teachers headed home on the retirement train as soon as CC was brought into play because they feared the change, because it's huge. (It really is.)
You can't change the way we learn over night. I really do have empathy for 4th-12th graders who have learned in a different way, and then have to change their way of thinking. It's difficult to go from 2+2=4 to "Johnny has 4 apples all together. Some are green and some are red. What are some possible combinations of red and green apples could Johnny have?" It's completely up for interpretation, and GUESS WHAT there's always more than one way to get the "right" answer.
Some of the methodology seems different and confusing for NOW, but after it's been grandfathered in, it will be great. Some people don't want to offer it the time to become streamlined and effective, they just want to kill it before it's instigated and given a fair trail run.
2. It's about the PROCESS not the PRODUCT
The common core standards are VERY open for a teacher's interpretation of what they mean. As teachers we are given the right to teach how we want to teach, as long as we use these given state guidelines and curriculum. That's the beauty of it.
Common Core isn't about memorization. (Which, when I was in school, it was about how much I could remember for "the test". Common core encourages students to think more deeply, to make connections to other things, and to develop higher level thinking skills. It helps our students to become better problem solvers, communicators, and develops self-confidence, because it provides them opportunities to investigate rather than do a million drills of "remember this" and "remember that". It's finding a deep love and understanding of multiplication, rather than just remembering the facts that go with them. It's using multiple strategies for multiplication rather than just ADDING numbers. Did you know that there's at LEAST 20 different ways to do multiplication? Yep. One method is even done using JUST your 10 fingers. In all honesty, the Chinese way of doing it is REALLY intriguing. Watch the strategy here, it's pretty awesome: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n97nmGGlBf4
It's no longer about WHAT you can remember to throw up on a test, it's about HOW you're going to approach a given problem in real life.
3. About the TEST it's about RESULTS
One of the most misunderstood parts of CC is that it's LESS pressure for teachers to teach for "the test". Will these first years be rough? Yes. "The Test", or SBAC testing, will be daunting until our students are prepared for it. (Which, as I stated above, will take years.) The Common Core standards are based off of "scaffolding", which is the idea that students learn based off what they already know.
The hope is that this national test will reflect areas of strengths and weakness across the board. What is going right in education? What may one area of the country be lacking, that another is excelling at? How can we remediate this?
As a teacher, teaching is all about assessment (yes, assessment means TESTING). I assess myself daily to make sure that I'm using reflection as a tool to make me a better, more effective, teacher. I informally rate myself on "How did this lesson go?" "How could it have been enhanced?" "Where there any areas I could've addressed better?" "What can I do next time?" "How did the students respond?" "Did they deeply understand the material?" I then use these results to drive how I instruct. Assessment is a tool. It is used to show growth and progress. Without assessments, school would be useless because we would have no way to improve. Assessment means the opportunity to improve.
4. It's About Streamlining Education from State to State
Yes, it's true. People actually think that the president is using common core to start a Hitler Youth inspired fascist campaign. Little do people know that Obama's policies are more communist than fascist. (Just saying.) Anyways, if you want to watch the conspiracy, go ahead and watch this little diddy: http://www.redflagnews.com/headlines/shock-report-obama-forming-hitler-youth-under-common-core
One of the goals of CC is to have a streamlined education system that carries over from state to state. This is in the hopes that if a child moves from Honolulu to Idaho Falls, ID that they will have been studying the same (or similar) things. Having this common goal (there's a pun!) allows teachers from ALL OVER THE COUNTRY to collaborate and communicate ideas for different units, plans, and activities. This benefits ALL children because their teacher is getting to pick the brains of other wonderful teachers.
Homogenizing the standards for reading, writing, and math helps maintain the integrity of state standards in science and social studies. You can incorporate these state standards in with the CC standards and have a beautiful thing :)
5. Old Fashioned vs New Age
When I was in school I was taught one way to subtract. I was taught to count backwards and "take numbers away" from other numbers. Learning styles are diverse. We cannot address every student the same. Taking away may not WORK for a student, which means they will be left in the dust because they don't understand something… so what do we do as teachers when this happens? Well, the old way meant we would RE-TEACH the taking away method and drill and kill until they finally understood. Guys, that isn't appropriate. The new-age teacher would recognize that the student struggles with counting backwards and would provide the student with the opportunity to use a number line and use the "counting up" method of subtraction.
Learning is NOT one size fits all. What makes sense for one student, may sound like some strange language to another.
Common Core lets us explore this idea. It lets teachers investigate how each child learns, and how to best reach them. Common Core allows us to provide a variety of methods and strategies to allow our students be successful. It makes education less "right" and "wrong", and less "black" and "white". The gray area is worth celebrating! Common Core allows me teach my students multiple methods to find the "right" answer. Even if they get the "incorrect" answer, I applaud their efforts along the way. I praise their thought process. I praise investigation and exploration. It allows children a chance to THINK. It allows them to form opinions, express thoughts, start discussions, ask questions, discover new ideas, see past the obvious, and try new things.
Yes, the old fashioned way of learning worked for some people, and that is great. The "old fashioned" way of learning is comfortable. It's like a pair of Toms that you don't want to get rid of because they were really excellent shoes, even though they have massive holes in them. (I'm so guilty of that. I hate throwing out shoes.) My education growing up was a wonderful one that I have always cherished, but we also have to take into consideration the changing times and the changing pressures in the world pertaining to college preparation and career opportunities for the next generation.
The bottom line:
The media is misconstrued. It's full of fallacies to meet personal agendas. If I believed what the media told me all the time I would be living a miserable life. I hope this article was meaningful in helping to ease fears about new standards. It's intimidating. I know it is. But, just because it's a big change, doesn't mean it's not a great change. Is Common Core perfect? No. There will need to be tweaks as we go. It will take time. It will take effort, but it will be worth the try either way. Major changes are always scary, and it's good to be skeptical, but it's also good to take the time to research past the headlines.
“Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.”
― Frank Zappa
“Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.”
― Martin Luther King Jr.
Also… I love this.
Sunday, June 1, 2014
2014 June Update
Yes it's June. Holy cow, it's JUNE. I have five more days left in my first year of school teaching, and about 25 more days until we move on to a new adventure in Wyoming. The Wyoming count down has commenced! To be perfectly honest I turn 24 in 27 days. That is also freaking me out. At what point is it okay to lie about my age? I think I'm going to start telling people that I'm 22… for the rest of my life. Forever young, baby, forever young.
Anyways, a lot of people have been asking me for updates on my life as a married woman. I realize I've been a bit of a recluse, but that's because the moments where there is silence in my life, have become valuable because I need to decompress after a long day of wrangling a herd of adorable six year olds. A lot of people ask me questions about my husband in particular, because many people haven't even met him yet! How is this possible? Well, everyone, if you see Grant somewhere don't call him "Kenneth", and feel free to chat with him. He has the soul of a true blue 80- year-old gentleman, so he will talk your ear off for centuries if you'd like to get to know him.
Grant is a storyteller and a curious young man. He loves "interviewing" people informally during conversation. There are a few things that he's seriously (obsessively) passionate about… ducks, dogs, geese, guns, punk music, fly tying, and fishing. Once he catches the bug to love a topic, he researches it to death. I told him one day that if he worked as hard at college as he does at researching basic fly-tying that he would probably have his Ph. D in a year. He is a CNA (and a DARN good one at that), who wants to become a nurse. He would be perfect at it too, because he is patient, personable, calm under pressure, strong-stomached, and kind. That's Grant in a nutshell. He's my sweet, patient, clumsy Prince Charming, and I love him oh so dearly.
On a lighter note, I didn't think I would ever come across my dream job this early in my life, but I have. I was blessed enough to have a five or six job offers this year, and after a lot of praying and tears a miracle happened, but I'll tell you about that later… anyways, interviews are always terrifying, but I knew that I would know what to do when it came along. It was a huge comfort, but I had no idea what it meant. After 4 job offers, I still had NO idea what to do. (So much for the feeling, right?) I didn't lose hope, even though time was winding down for me to resign. This is when the miracle happened. I was offered my dream job. How often does that happen? I was offered a job to teacher kindergarten in my HOME TOWN. Very few times in my life have I ever been that happy and excited.
I thought it would be hard to find an apartment too, because MANY people in Star Valley are looking for affordable rentals, but then a town home sort of fell into my lap. (Well, actually, my mom and cousin Eve were on the hunt to find us something, but this still came to them SO easily). I'm inexplicably excited to live in a HOUSE instead of an overpriced, 800 sq foot, apartment where we can hear our upstairs neighbors when they have a cold.
Everything is coming up roses, and I couldn't possibly explain how blessed I feel in words. The cats are excited for the move too (deep down inside). So until we move, Grant and I get to enjoy a few weeks of packing… with breaks involving fishing, movies, s'mores, swimming, hiking, and everything else wonderful about summer time. :)
Anyways, a lot of people have been asking me for updates on my life as a married woman. I realize I've been a bit of a recluse, but that's because the moments where there is silence in my life, have become valuable because I need to decompress after a long day of wrangling a herd of adorable six year olds. A lot of people ask me questions about my husband in particular, because many people haven't even met him yet! How is this possible? Well, everyone, if you see Grant somewhere don't call him "Kenneth", and feel free to chat with him. He has the soul of a true blue 80- year-old gentleman, so he will talk your ear off for centuries if you'd like to get to know him.
Grant is a storyteller and a curious young man. He loves "interviewing" people informally during conversation. There are a few things that he's seriously (obsessively) passionate about… ducks, dogs, geese, guns, punk music, fly tying, and fishing. Once he catches the bug to love a topic, he researches it to death. I told him one day that if he worked as hard at college as he does at researching basic fly-tying that he would probably have his Ph. D in a year. He is a CNA (and a DARN good one at that), who wants to become a nurse. He would be perfect at it too, because he is patient, personable, calm under pressure, strong-stomached, and kind. That's Grant in a nutshell. He's my sweet, patient, clumsy Prince Charming, and I love him oh so dearly.
On a lighter note, I didn't think I would ever come across my dream job this early in my life, but I have. I was blessed enough to have a five or six job offers this year, and after a lot of praying and tears a miracle happened, but I'll tell you about that later… anyways, interviews are always terrifying, but I knew that I would know what to do when it came along. It was a huge comfort, but I had no idea what it meant. After 4 job offers, I still had NO idea what to do. (So much for the feeling, right?) I didn't lose hope, even though time was winding down for me to resign. This is when the miracle happened. I was offered my dream job. How often does that happen? I was offered a job to teacher kindergarten in my HOME TOWN. Very few times in my life have I ever been that happy and excited.
I thought it would be hard to find an apartment too, because MANY people in Star Valley are looking for affordable rentals, but then a town home sort of fell into my lap. (Well, actually, my mom and cousin Eve were on the hunt to find us something, but this still came to them SO easily). I'm inexplicably excited to live in a HOUSE instead of an overpriced, 800 sq foot, apartment where we can hear our upstairs neighbors when they have a cold.
Everything is coming up roses, and I couldn't possibly explain how blessed I feel in words. The cats are excited for the move too (deep down inside). So until we move, Grant and I get to enjoy a few weeks of packing… with breaks involving fishing, movies, s'mores, swimming, hiking, and everything else wonderful about summer time. :)
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