Mondays with Murphy – Summer Living

Summer is all about looking good and impressing the ladies . . .

Murphy says, “When you look this good, you don’t even have to try, the ladies are automatically impressed.”

Defining Healthy

Is this dinner healthy?

       Chicken Stroganoff with Egg Noodles and Green Beans

This dinner is clearly not gluten free or dairy free.  I also used full fat products (sour cream and cream of chicken soup), including real butter on the green beans.  Does any of that make it unhealthy? I also used regular chicken (as opposed to free-range) and nothing is organic.  Does any of that make it unhealthy as well? You tell me!

Happy Cinco de Mayo

Happy Cinco de Mayo!! Hope everyone had a wonderful day!

Burrito Bowls

For my first “healthy” recipe, I bring you burrito bowls.

I love this recipe for weekday lunches.  I make a little extra on the weekend, and then I do not have to make lunch in the mornings – a win win for this girl who loves to get every extra minute of sleep in the morning

Recipe

Ingredients

• Quinoa – start with 1 cup uncooked – makes 3 cups cooked Quinoa (I usually use rice, but decided to try Quinoa for the first time – I liked it, Ryan is on the fence)
• 1.25 pounds Ground Turkey (this is size that was on sale, ordinarily I would only use a pound)
• 2 cans Diced Tomatoes and Chilies
• 1 can Black Beans
• 1 bag Frozen Corn, cooked (I use the steam in the bag variety)
• Spices (cayenne pepper, chili powder, garlic powder, red pepper flake, etc.) to your liking

Steps

1. Brown ground turkey.
2. Add spices (I usually add a combination of chili powder, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes) and diced tomatoes and chilies to the
3. Heat black beans, adding whatever seasoning you like 
4. Now for assembly:
   1. 3/4 cup cooked quinoa
   2. 1/4 of the cooked ground turkey
   3. 1/4 of the black beans
   4. 1/4 of the corn
   5. Add cheese, sour cream, and salsa depending on your preference – for weekday lunches I do not add any toppings

Nutritional Information (per serving- these servings were on the large size)

• Calories – 564
• Carbohydrates – 66
• Fat – 14
• Protein – 42

Cost Information

Item	Price	Quantity	Total
Quinoa	3.39	0.50	1.70
Ground Turkey	3.99	1.00	3.99
Roundy’s Diced Tomatoes and Chiles	0.69	2.00	1.38
Roundy’s Black Beans	0.79	1.00	0.79
Corn	1.00	1.00	1.00
Total			8.86
Servings	4.00
Total Per Serving			2.21

And now for a Comparison of sorts:

A Qdoba Burrito bowl with ground beef, rice, black beans, and pico de gallo costs at least $6.00 and has the following nutritional information:

• Calories – 580
• Carbohydrates – 65
• Fat – 20
• Protein – 34

So, I ask you, is what I made “healthy,” what would you do to make it healthier, would you eat it or would you got to Qdoba?

Murphy Stages a Sit-In

Murphy does not like Friday mornings.  By Friday morning he has had enough of his humans going to work, and he wants his humans to stay home.  Often he protests by sitting by the garage door and refusing to come into the house.  He reasons (to the extent Murphy can reason) that his humans cannot go to work if he doesn’t come in the house. Luckily it is still a little to cold in the mornings for Murphy to stay out long, so the protest is relatively short-lived . . .

No, mama, I will not come in the house . . . .

 

In fact, I cannot even look at you right now . . .

Coupon Rules

I only have two coupon rules:

1. Have a budget for how much you will spend each week.
2. Don’t clip coupons for items you don’t need to eat or buy.

These don’t have to be your rules, but without these rules, I had several shopping misadventures that were not good for my wallet or my waistline:

• I once asked Ryan if I should buy Prilosec because it was on sale and I had a coupon – neither of us have heartburn or indigestion (I am actually guessing that is what Prilosec treats, because I honestly have no clue what it is used for), but I thought we should have it “just in case.”  That was when I first started couponing, and two years later no one has ever asked me for Prilosec.
• On another occasion, I put together a shopping list that included frozen pre-made garlic bread and Gushers.  I know, I just got done telling you that we generally do not eat processed foods.  But I had coupons, so I haaaaaddddd to buy them because they were on sale and it was going to be a good deal.  Luckily this was around the same time I started taking Ryan to the grocery store, and he talked me off the cliff.
• Candy.  Unless it is Halloween or I am buying candy for someone else, I do not clip coupons for candy.  Why you ask, because candy is expensive and well, its candy, so some (not me) would argue that it lacks in nutritional value.  Having a coupon is all the excuse I need to buy myself a bag of candy – hmmmm chocolate.
• I haven’t bought lotion in over a year, and I still have at least six bottles under the bathroom sink.
• For the record, I never went so far as to buy cat food for the cat that we will never have.

I should also add that I am somewhat brand loyal.  For most things I will happily buy store-brand products, but there are a few areas where I will only buy certain brands.  For example, laundry detergent and fabric softener.  I only use one brand, and it is the expensive brand.  I know this goes against some couponing mantras, but every other brand of detergent and fabric softener makes my skin itch, so to me, it is just wasting money to buy a brand, because it is cheap, that I will never ever use.

So what, if any, coupon rules do you have? And what coupon rules do you break? Anyone else out there with coupon misadventures?

p.s. Tonight I am making burrito bowls with quinoa instead of rice and crock-pot honey garlic chicken.  I will post recipes, cost, and nutritional information!  And, of course, because no food post would be complete without Ryan’s review, I will be asking him to rate each meal.

Can You Eat Healthy** on a Budget**?

So you probably noticed a few things about the title of this blog that are a little out of the ordinary.  The first being that it isn’t all about Murphy.  He is currently otherwise engaged tearing apart the remnants of his baby dino toy, so he is too busy to blog.  Stay tuned, and I promise he will return to the regularly scheduled programming.

The second thing is probably the asterisks in the title and the overall theme.  Let me explain.

The asterisks:

• Healthy  - I generally mean avoiding processed foods.    We are not gluten/lactose free, and I don’t have the ability to make  recipes that require a thousand healthy substitutions.  Besides Ryan is a meat and potatoes boy at heart.  Hence why all attempts at introducing Meatless Monday have so stunningly failed.
• Budget – We have a grocery/household expense budget (about $60-70/week), but it is not strictly enforced. Ryan and I both work full time, and he has limited patience for shopping, so we do not play the “drugstore game,” and I only go to one grocery store, and I only go once a week.  I also do not use online coupons because I can never get the printer to work.

I know that this is different than my usual topics, but I thought I would give it a try to see if others think it is possible and whether others have suggestions for healthy eating on a budget.

A little over a year ago, I started couponing. After some misadventures, I think I finally have a couponing plan that works for us.  (No we are not extreme couponers, and I do not have a stockpile).  About the same time, Ryan and I started on a health-kick.   These two new initiatives didn’t really go hand-in-hand, but over time we have worked out a strategy that works for us.  I thought I talk about some of my couponing habits, the healthy and “cheapish” recipes we like, and see if any of you had  additional suggestions.

 

***More asterisks ***

I know you are worried about the asterisks, no need to be.  Just a heads up, that the regular programming will be returning in the near future as well.  Now that the Packer schedule is released, Ryan and I will be working on a menu for the season.  We will be looking for menu suggestions in the next few weeks, so please leave suggestions with “Football City” foods and recipes.

Birfday Breakfast and a Food Review

What are those, Dad? Are there cakes on that plate?!?!?!  Let me take a look!!!

Yummmmmmmmmmyyyyyy!!  Sausage too!!!! No way, this is the best birfday ever!!!!

Must move cakes out of the way so I can get the sausages!!! Love sausages!!!!

Okay, now it is time to polish off the cakes!!

 

**Murphy’s Mom here.  Murphy is napping now.  Too much breakfast excitement for him I suppose.  With breakfast we had Johnsonville’s Pork and Chicken Sausage instead of traditional breakfast sausage.  Both Ryan and I really liked the Pork and Chicken Sasuage.  It wasn’t as fatty as typical breakfast sausage, but still had a lot of flavor.

 

It’s My Birfday!!

Murphy here!

It’s my birfday!!  I am six today, so today is my golden birfday.

Mom says she is going to make me cakes!! I love cakes!!

Mom says that I can go to to the doggie mall and pick new toy!!! I love toys – especially the Magooooooo toys, I wonder if they make Birthday Magoooos?!?!?!  Mom is trying to convince Dad that I need a Burley so that I can go for bike rides with them.  I think I would really like it. Dad isn’t sure.  I think he is worried that I will be too heavy to pull around.  I am not sure why,  I am a lap dog so I am pretty small — like five pounds or something.

See, soooo small that I fit in the laundry basket . . .

Mom and Dad said they would take me for  a w.a.l.k.  I think that means that I am going for a walk, but I am not sure because I am only six, so I am just learning to spell.  For now I am going to take a nap, because I need to rest up for my big day.

 

I Wear My Sunglasses At Night