A Never-Ending Story

And I'm not talking about a favorite movie from our childhoods.  Or laundry.

No, this is about food.  We're doing our best to eat healthier around here, so I'm always looking for new foods or recipes to try.  This evening, we'll be heading out on a little trip with my sister and her family.  Before we leave from here, though, the plan is to have dinner, so we're not trying to get settled and make dinner at the same time when we get to the cabin.  I'm planning on making a cheesy chicken, broccoli and rice casserole, which I had hoped to make in the slow cooker.

Now, I'm a little new to slow cooker cooking.  I've used it many times for stew and roasts, but I've never made anything else in it.  I had no idea how or when to add the cheese sauce or rice, so I went on the internet to find a recipe or answers.  Maybe I'm not very search-savvy, either, because all I could find were recipes that call for prepackaged mixes or condensed "cream of" soups.  I don't have those on hand, and even if I did, I can't eat them!  

Where, oh where, on this endless information highway does a person find slow cooker recipes that use real food??  Does no one take the time to prepare their own seasoning or sauces these days?  And honestly, how healthy is a recipe that uses boxed, seasoned (salted!) rice and canned soup?  Can we say, "Preservatives and Sodium much"?  I thought more people were turning away from packaged foods...  Judging by my unsuccessful searching today, I'd have to say I was way wrong.

There was a time when I did use a lot of canned soups for cooking, and would eat boxed macaroni and other packaged pasta dishes.  But eventually, I realized that making food myself was so much better.  It's more satisfying, for one, to look at your plate, and think, "I made that!".  I still used canned tomatoes and veggies for certain recipes, but I'd love to get away from those, too.  Some day, I hope I can be the Mom that makes spaghetti sauce from scratch (tomatoes and all!), with veggies I grew in my garden.  First, I need to learn how to grow tomatoes.  Another reason I don't like using seasoning packets and canned soups is that I really just can't.  Being gluten-intolerant, "cream of" soups are out of the question (unless I want to spend $5 on a tiny box that really doesn't do much for my recipes...), and many boxed side dishes these internet recipes call for probably contain gluten, too.  Finally, I don't like to use them because my food always ended up too salty.  Once upon a time, I loved salty foods.  Being more conscious about our health, I try to keep as much salt as possible out of our diet.  And I'm not a fan of preservatives and ingredients I can't pronounce.

This topic could go off into all kinds of wild directions, and I really should get back to what I was doing. 

Since I don't really have the time or ambition to do any further research today, I'll save that for another time.  For now, I'll just be using more dishes than I anticipated, and make the casserole the old-fashioned way: on the stove and in the oven.  Oh yes, and I'll also have to pull out the rice cooker, too.  So much for an easy, throw-together meal!

Thanks a lot, internet.  *sarcasm!*

Toddler Beds and Dieting

There are two big things happening around here lately.  First, Logan is now is a toddler bed.  He seems to like it well enough, but there have been so many nights that he ends up in our bed, because he can slide out of his and climb up into ours on his own.  Ryan and Logan sleep fine, but I'm usually up most of the night wondering if I should just get up, put a pillow under the sheets, and sleep on the couch for all the comfort I have.  By morning, my back is so stiff that I'm a wreck the whole day.  Short of locking Logan in his room, though, I don't see that there's much to be done.  I will put Logan back in his own bed when he comes wandering in, but most times, Ryan lets him climb up and sleep with us.  I feel like the wicked witch for insisting my son sleeps in his own bed.

I'm hoping, though, that today's purchase will help Logan stay in bed.  I went ahead and bought a set of toddler bedding.  At first, we figured we would just use the bedding we have, and layer the blankets in the winter.  But the more I thought about it, the more I wondered if Logan would be more happy about having his own bed if he had some super-cool Hot Wheels stuff on it.  So, I bought the $20 set from Walmart.  I'm happy to find that the blanket isn't as thick as youth bedding sets.  At least he won't drown in pools of his own sweat!  I'm excited for him to wake up, so I can put the stuff in the dryer, and then make up his awesome new bed...  so excited, I'm almost tempted to start the dryer right now!  But I won't.

Instead, I'll...  find something else to occupy my brain.  Except for food.

That's the other big thing happening here.  We're dieting.  Not some fad diet, or specific diet.  Just eating healthy foods, smaller portions, trying to stay off my butt more often than not.  That last part is harder than it should be.  I've realized that I am actually a fairly lazy person.  I would much rather sit down on the couch and watch a movie, or snooze, when I have the chance, than do house cleaning or cooking. or even walk the dog.  I'll sit and play with Logan, but when we go out to play, I'm the supervisor, not a participant. 

Maybe I'll get up now, and try doing some yoga...  yeah...  yoga...