Too much fun in the sun?

It's been awhile since I posted an entry here, I really must do better. But when something strikes me as "blog worthy", it'll get more action.

This summer has been really good for me. I have appreciated the heat more than I have in my entire life because last winter was so dreadfully long and cold (in my opinion) and I just felt this overwhelming gloom fall over me the way I have the past two Decembers. So I vowed to play outside more, go barefoot more (not hard because I hate shoes anyway), and get some summer color after a heavy-duty application of sunscreen. It's a promise I've kept.

The only thing about summer, the lazy days of summer, is that I have become very lax about nutrition for myself and my family because it's just too hot to fire up the oven day in and day out and really, how much food off the grill does any one person want? Living in Colorado allows us to eat off the grill year-round, even if some days Babe is in boots and a coat, so it gets old pretty quickly by mid-summer. But today I decided to get back on track because it's my job to lead the troops in the way they should go.

How does your family get back on track nutritionally? I need to go grocery shopping this week, which is almost as scary as getting gasoline these days, so that's where I'll start. I find it is hard to eat healthy with prices as they are, but that's when we have to cut back on the junk foods we buy..and at the rate we've been going, it'll be a good thing.

I will make my grocery list detailing our meals and snacks then shop for only the items that fit into the menu. We will eat out no more than twice a month unless, of course, we're traveling. And, this is a biggie I've noticed, I'll buy 100% fruit juice because the extra cost is worth the health of my babies' bodies...that high fructose corn syrup stuff is good for nothing. NO-THING. If I can find a bottle to toss into Jay's lunch bag that won't leak it'll be a blessed day - meanwhile I have to buy juice boxes no more than 4 ounces big.

My good friend is a dietician and suggests because it's cheaper to buy a big bag of chips as opposed to the cute individual, landfill-littering bags, I should just divide the servings into lunch baggies. That way no one is eating more than we should and we can fill the landfill with ziplock bags...ah, much better. I guess ya can't have it all. But, we like our chips so that's one way around overeating.

I'm back into baking after a short hiatus after some flopped recipes, thanks to high altitude, so I like to bake snacks like cookies and cupcakes at home where I know what has gone into the food. An easy way around the poison that is in packaged stuff.

Throw some fruit in alongside some cheese or even a homemade cookie, and a salad at dinner and we'll be well on our way back to my Virgo-style of controlling the nutrition of my household. They'll be thrilled :)