Food View- Breakfast in a Ball jar? Sure! Why not?

As I sit here at my lovely blogging station aka computer desk, I am eating my breakfast from this exact jar.

You are probably wondering, "Hey? What the....hey?"

I thought the same thing folks when I seen this recipe over at Optimal Living's Facebook page.

Cold oatmeal you say? Um, I guess I will try most things once.

I was extremely surprised how much I liked the cold, overnight oatmeal. 

For me, it has become a morning staple(when I remember to quickly whip some up the night before).

It is a super fast breakfast with a lot of healthy goodness inside.

Let me show you how easy it is to make!

First off, you do not need a pint size mason jar BUT lately I have been having a small love affair with all things mason jars, especially Ball Mason Jars....AND I am trying to get the plastic stuff out of my kitchen as well, so mason jars make a great container to store food. AND they are charming as well!

Ingredients: 

3/4 cup of rolled oats(Old Fashioned). I use:

3/4 cup of milk. I have to use almond milk but any whole-fat milk will work for this recipe. I have also seen recipes that use organic yogurt as well. I use:

1/3 cup of any kind of berries you would like to use. Typically I use raspberries, but it will not matter. This will completely just be personal preference. 

1 TBSP of Chia Seeds. Here is the brand I use(click).

Click here to read about the health benefits of chia seeds.

1 TBSP of pure maple syrup. 

The REAL stuff. Not Mrs. Butterworth, Log Cabin, or Aunt Jemima(do they even make Aunt Jemima anymore?). There is nothing real about most of the "maple syrup" on the grocery shelves. Although if you read the ingredients, you will probably be able to find 1 or 2 on the shelf that is the real thing. These WILL NOT contain, High Fructose Corn Syrup(HFCS)! Yes real, pure maple syrup is expensive but you use much less than that "other stuff", so to me, it is worth the extra expense.

Here is one I use. Another bonus? It is local!

Next step is to put all these ingredients in your jar, stir or shake(cover), put in fridge over night (hence Overnight Oatmeal) and Enjoy in the morning! There ya have it, quick and easy!

To me, it was like dessert for breakfast and very filling, with lots of healthy goodness packed into a pint size jar. 

Much better than a bowl of lucky charms, cheerios, fruit loops and any of that other candy in a box we have been brain washed into thinking is a great, healthy breakfast.

Let me know if you try it, and what you think of it!

Enjoy the View~

Jenifer

Book View- "7: An Experimental Mutinty Against Excess"

Happy Friday!

 

Mr Sunny McSunster has not been making very many appearances as of late here in Minnesota, but he has decided to visit this morning.
How dang splendid of him!
I may have to go have a quick chit-chat with him to let him know he is welcome anytime.
Apparently this slipped his mind, as we have had very few days of sunshine for the past 2 months.
I have started to wonder if a Vampire-apocalypse is upon us?

Anywho....

If you have "liked" my page over on Facebook : House of Views,  you would have seen that yesterday I revealed a crazy little secret.....wait for it.....parts of me wants to live in a smaller space. Much.Smaller.
Not a juicy secret but not something I guess I have ever revealed before, hahaha!
I posted a link to a blog I recently discovered about a family of 5 living in 665 square feet, a very charming, 665 square feet, might I add.
Click here to check out her blog. You will not be disappointed.

This blog got me thinking about how much we live with, that we could actually live without.
Then to my surprise & almost as if someone plopped it right in my lap, I received an email about a book:

Click here to get a copy of your own.

If I had to sit down and judge myself, I wouldn't say that I have an excessive amount of material things. 

I do like things. Especially pretty things for my house but I would never consider myself a person of material excess. 

Clothes & Shoes? Eh, I could take 'em or leave 'em but they tell me I have to wear 'em so I do.

However, I keep both of those categories very simple and limited, because I do not enjoy shopping for either one.

If I really take the time to look at everything around me though, I know that compared to the world as a whole, I am a person of material excess.

I am not sure why I am being led in this direction?  Maybe it is the 3 toilets I clean on a regular basis or the 2000 square feet of carpet I vacuum 2 x's per week.... but I am running with it. 

Please don't take this the wrong way by thinking we are packing up shop and moving to a 1 room shack.

I am certain the B'Dog is not giving up his 3 car garage anytime soon, but just daydreaming about less stuff is enough......for now. 

I anxiously await the arrival of my book and plan on sharing my thoughts about it with you along the way.

Enough rambling... I am going to go take advantage of something that has not been excessive lately....Mr. McSunster.

Have a great weekend and always.......

Enjoy your View~

Jenifer

Budget View- Part 5.0- I certainly am in a bind(er) now!

If you have been following along we are now on Part 5 of the Budget View series.
If not, and you need or want to catch up, here are links to all the "parts":
Needs vs Wants, 7 reasons to have a budget, The Emergency Fund, & The Freedom Account.

Every once in a while I will throw in a random money saving tip/idea that will be typically listed under the Budget View, like : Why I don't have a smart phone....right now.

But today I am going to try and explain the "system" I use to keep track of our finances.
As you can see from the title of my blog post is Part 5.0. Reason being, I don't want this post to get too long and obnoxious, so the binder system will come in Parts 5.0 and 5.1.

Disclaimer:
This is NOT a high tech system. This is a system that works for my family. It may or may not work for yours. If you implement it and it works GREAT! If not, please know that there are several "systems" to keep track of your finances and budgets out in the World Wide Web. My suggestion is to find one that works for you. I am not a professional anything, so please do not sue me if my tips and ideas do not meet your standards."

OK, let's get on with this, shall we?

Materials I use for the "system" :

One 2 inch ,3 ring binder. 

You can find these in a lot of stores. I got mine at Target or if you shop online check out Amazon.com. The one I use has pockets on the front and back inside cover. This is where I tuck my bills until they are due.

1-3 sets of  tab pocket dividers. There are many different brands of these. 

The amount you will need depends on how many bills you pay.

You will have one divider per company.

1 package of sheet protectors. 

I keep my insurance policies in these at the back of the 3 ring binder.

This way I know exactly where they are if I need them in a hurry.

Again, you will find all different brands depending on the store you go to.

A highlighter. 

I use this to highlight the bills on my printable calender when I have paid a bill for the month.

Fine point Sharpie marker.

I use this to write the name of the company that I will be paying my bill to on the tab of the pocket dividers.

A fine point pen would work as well.

3 ring hole punch. 

I use this to punch holes in my bills after they have been paid so I can file them under the corresponding pocket divider. I also use it on my free printables(see below) so they fit correctly in my 3 ring binder. 

This way the 3 ring binder stays very organized and the papers are not just floating around.

I have found some awesome free printables on some very helpful websites.
FYI: I have not created these myself. That is way more high tech than I am at this moment.
Just click the links and it should lead you to a version you can print out for yourself to have in your own binder. The ones I use are:
#1- Annual Bill Schedule
#2-The Freedom Account Page - I posted about that here.
#3-Monthly Budget
#4-Monthly Calender
#5-Birthdays & Anniversaries
#6-User Names & Passwords

Part 5.0 is all about the Materials I use in the binder system. Part 5.1 will be how I set up & use the binder system.
It really is super easy! And Yes, I know there are computer systems that are probably just as easy to use that basically do the same thing, but for some reason keeping it to pen and paper seems to keep me extra organized. I am not a real "techie" person, so I like to keep it simple.

I hope you are finding some of my tips helpful. I learned a lot of this financial stuff by reading other blogs, books, and Facebook pages.
It's fun to share what seems to work for my family. Hey,who knows, maybe what I share will help at least one of you out in bloggyville.

Enjoy the View~
Jenifer

BeautyView Friday- Wouldn't ya gnome it?

Yee-Haw! 
After a weeks worth of rain and dreary skies, my yard is in full bloom. So So pretty.
Now let's remember I am still fine tuning any skills I thought I might have with a DSLR camera.
I have none folks, nada, zilch.
So excuse some of my photos today, because it was cloudy, very dreary, and almost dark in a lot of these shots, and apparently I have no idea about exposure...so there ya have it.
I was only going to do one shot but I want to show you what is blooming over at the homestead.

This is a little bush in my back yard that turns all firey red when it is full. Anyone know the name of it?

Here is one of hundreds of blossoms on my apple tree that I pray turns into hundreds of apples! Last year we got one lonely apple off of our tree because of a high wind storm that came through in June and took our other apple tree out. Of course it was the tree that had all the apples on it! Try not to notice the bad exposure in this picture, lol!

These are the flowers from my flowering crab apple trees. I have 3 of them. All white. I wish you had smell-e-vision...they smell delicious! The only down fall, they attract tent worms and I spotted a small nest yesterday at the top of one of the trees. Have to go clip and burn those little gross monsters today!

Last year we didn't get any lilacs. It was a very warm winter and things started blooming very early in Minnesota. Then we had a frost and it stunted all the lilacs and they never bloomed. Which is sad because they are so beautiful and fragrant.

Another thing that has sprouted up...little bitty Gnomes. Yep they took up residence not too long ago. They are pretty quiet neighbors, but I think they need to do a little sprucing up around the house. Their "chippy" little house has a lot of character, but their lawn needs to be mowed!

Speaking of lawns, ours dang near had to be bailed yesterday after a week of not being able to get out and mow it because it was too wet!

Everything is green and beautiful though, just like Minnesota should be!

Have a safe and blessed Memorial Weekend. Take time at your BBQ this weekend to remember all the Men and Women who sacrificed their lives for our country and to also.......

ENJOY the View~

Jenifer

Budget View- Has anyone smelled my Burner phone around?

Before you start to judge, hear me out.....I am NOT carrying this around :

But I kinda think it would be funny to pull one of these suckers out in a public place, start chattin' it up and see how many people stopped to stare. Especially the generation that has NO idea what the heck it even is!

The good ol' phone in a bag....it was so 007 at the time, wasn't it?

But I do carry this(when it's charged):

To those with an untrained eye, this is NOT a smart phone{insert sarcasm here}.

It is a prepaid Tracfone aka Burner phone(as a lovely friend of mine once referred to it).

Let me list a few of the reason why I do not get "smart" about my phone.

#1- I cannot stand to be in "contract" as a customer. 

The contract concept has been a thorn in my side for years. I think it is ridiculous that we, as customers, are slaves to one company's service for 2 years! These companies act like they are doing us a favor?

UM excuse me BUT doesn't the consumer pay for your BILLION dollar mansion?

#2- Dude! I got bigger fish to fry. 

OK so everyone has different fish to fry. 

My main fish, is to get and keep my family debt free!

We have 2 debts(car loan & camper loan) yet to pay off besides our 2 mortgages(one is a rental property, one is our homestead).

I am not sure what the going rate is for a data plan/cell bill on a smart phone, but I am guessing an average family that have smart phones, in the USA, pay $100 or more a month for these plans?

If I had to make an educated estimate on how much we pay as a family on our 2 "burner" phones, I would say about $250 total per year.

That brings me to a $950 savings that we can put towards our debt! 

And yes, if you are wondering, we do pay more than the minimum payment required on the 2 debts I mentioned above. 

I just cannot justify a high monthly cell phone bill, especially if things get tight in the finances from month to month. 

Right now it is just not on my needs list.

#3- I would be an addict.
Yep I know my limits. I would be on that dang smart phone all.the.time! And some days "those" people, really irk me.
In all honesty though, smart phones are sooooooo cool.
I literally cannot believe that we have all that technology right at our fingertips if we so choose.
Talk about 007!
And we totally take it for granted. I mean, I literally hear people gripe about how slow their smart phone is running. SAY WHAT? Who the? What the? Yeah, I got nothing for those people.

I'm not saying we will never get a smart phone. Who knows, tomorrow I may wake up and think "Hey, today is a great day to become a slave to a smart phone!" and run out to the nearest mobile phone store and purchase one. B'Dog says I am fickle like that, remember?

When that day does come I will search high and low for a phone plan that doesn't consist of signing a 2 year contract. I know they exist even with data plans.
But as of right now I have not found the need for it.
You can be certain when it becomes a "need", I will be doing my research to find the best option for our family.

Remember to put your neat little smart phone away once in awhile and.......

ENJOY the VIEW~
Jenifer

Food View- Keep Calm & Make Coffee

I love the taste, I love the smell, and I love the warmth.....

I wouldn't say I am coffee dependent, however I would say I like a good cup of Joe in the morning and sometimes mid afternoon to perk things up a bit.

Honestly though, I think it is a comfort thing. 

It just feels home-y. 

For all you coffee drinkers out there, I suspect you know what I mean?

And the real good news here, there are supposed health benefits, besides an energy boost, to drinking coffee!

Don't sue me if these prove to be untrue in 20 years, but after some reading these are the "bennys" I found:

Lowers my risk of death from heart disease, diabetes, prostrate cancer(this is not a big concern to me, but if you are a man this is a great benefit), and endometrial cancer. 

Also, coffee drinkers are more likely to resist development of dementia and Alzheimer's. 

Apparently these benefits are linked to the high antioxidant levels in coffee.

Beware: What you add to your coffee can make it into a cup o' crap!

In the past I was a coffee creamer junkie. Seriously, we could whip through a container of this within a week:

Even though I loooovvvveee the taste, I wised up a bit, read the label, and decided I wanted to cut down on my chemical consumption. 

Here is a chemical ingredient label for the coffee creamer I use to use:

Non-Dairy Product Ingredients: Water, Cane Sugar, Corn Syrup, Palm Oil (Adds an Insignificant Amount of Fat), Contains Less than 1% of Less of Each of the Following: Carrageenan, Cellulose Gel, Cellulose Gum, Mono and Diglycerides (Adds an Insignificant Amount of Fat), Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate (Adds an Insignificant Amount of Fat), Salt, Dipotassium Phosphate, Polysorbate 60 (Adds an Insignificant Amount of Fat), Sodium Caseinate (Sodium Caseinate is Not a Source of Lactose) (a Milk Derivative), Natural and Artificial Flavors, Artificial Color.

Um, what?

So I stopped using my beloved, chemical & sugar laden coffee creamer, and started drinking my coffee black. 

And it was just fine black, but I was missing my creamer.

If I didn't have a mild dairy allergy, I would have just switched over to real cream, and not the fat-free stuff either! FULL FAT BABY!(click here to read about my view on healthy fats)

But dairy was not an option unless I really wanted to be in pain the rest of the day :(

BOO to food allergies!

Then I was introduced to Full-Fat, organic coconut milk(click link to see where I get this brand)!!

Get a load of the ingredients:

Organic coconut milk (organic coconut, water, organic guar gum).

Just a tad healthier? I would say so! 

I can actually pronounce and recognize all the ingredients. SCORE!

Now in the morning(and/or afternoon) I take my coffee with 2 Tbsp of Organic Coconut Milk. 

I, myself happen to like the taste of coconut. I know not everyone likes the flavor but in all honesty it really is mild in taste.

*Just a note, this is unsweetened. 

After a week or so I lost my craving for sweetened creamer after I quit adding the chemical laden creamer to my coffee.

If you really need  it sweet, try out some Stevia or a smidge of organic cane sugar.

Take the time to pour yourself a cup and......

Enjoy the View~
Jenifer

Food View- whats a weekly grocery shopping trip looks like up in here?

I am quite certain that the first grocery store I ever stepped in was Red Owl, owned by the Huber's at the corner of Church and Meridian Street here in Small Town, USA. 

Isn't this such a cool vintage photo? Even though it is not the Red Owl I use to know, it still brings back some memories.

It kind of makes me sad to think that kids of this generation will only know grocery shopping at Wally World or Target Boutique(said with a French accent), and not really get a home town feel when they walk into their local grocery store.

I admit, I have shopped all the big box stores for groceries and still do once in awhile. Lately though I have been trying to keep it smaller, more local. It is a challenge to find small & local, but it's there, and it can really be worth it. 

I try to keep my grocery budget at about $150 a week, give or take(mostly give) a few dollars. Unless we are having company or a special occasion then I usually budget for more.

My first local stop was Cedar Summit Farm. This is a great organic farm! They raise grass fed beef and have a store/creamery right there on site. They carry a nice selection of meat & dairy products with a few extra things tossed into the mix.

You are probably wondering if grass fed, organic products are more expensive?.......Yes they are. 

But here is the pay off, they are super high quality, high in essential fatty acids, high in CLA(conjugated linoleic acid) and very low in chances of contracting E.Coli. I also do not have to worry about my daughter getting any added hormones through food. Lord knows, we don't need to add to that brewing disaster!

Here is what I bought at the Farm:

1/2 gallon Whole,Grass fed Milk-, 2 dozen pastured chicken eggs( jumbo, and xtra large), 1 bottle of local maple syrup( total splurge @ $10.99!), Ferndale Italian sausage(Turkey) , 2 lbs of grass fed ground beef, 1 lb of Kalona grass fed butter.

Farm Total: $42.09

Next Stop: the local Coborns. 

Lately I have been finding myself doing most of my "non Farm" food item shopping there. They have a great selection for a small town grocery store. Yes the prices are higher than Wally World, but when it comes to the price of gas and the price of my sanity, I think staying local is a great choice! 

  

Now, before you try to bust me out, I do still purchase some craptastic foods. It's not all organic or "real". We are not perfect, never will be and sometimes it is hard to get a B'Dog to do new tricks....if you know what I mean. Honestly I can't blame it all on the B'Dog...I like chocolate(all kinds) and Lily likes....well...anything with sugar. It's a total work in progress folks!

OK let's get on with it:

Produce: Bananas, Strawberries, grapefruits, snap peas, kale(going to try making kale chips per my cousin Kristi), green onions, and red potatoes.

Bread: 100% Whole Wheat(Bruce & Lily) & Ezekiel bread(for me)

Meat: 1 bag of shrimp, 1 package of sandwich meat, 1 package of Applegate bacon, 

3 packages of Bare chicken breasts

Staples: Rice vinegar, corn starch(I was looking for arrow root powder because I want to stop using corn starch but the store did not have it. Will have to look online for it), long grain brown rice, long grain white rice, and cashews

Home made pizza fixings: Turkey pepperoni, and Mozzarella cheese. 

I am on the hunt for healthier versions of both.

Junk Snacks: M&M's and peanuts to make trail mix, Food Should Taste Good multigrain chips, Annie's white cheddar bunnies, and plain ripple generic potato chips.

Coborns TOTAL: $109.92

For a Grand Total of  $152.01!

Not too bad, right? I know I could work on getting a little more of the super junkie processed stuff out of our diets and finding better alternatives. I am trying, really, really hard. Isn't it scary that this is a vast improvement from how we use to eat?

Maybe next time I will have some substitutions included. Provided I can find them :)

I always love to peek in and see what other are doing for meals....maybe sometime down the road I will include what our menu looks like for the week. Would that be something that interests you?

Thanks for visiting my kitchen.

Enjoy the View~

Jenifer