Crock Pot Tuesday

So, in our house we have crock pot Tuesday.  Tuesday is the day that Jim and I take the ENTIRE DAY OFF! Ok, well that is a little white lie.  We don't really take the entire day off....BUT we don't coach in the morning and we both vowed to stay off of electronic devices for the day.  No IPhones, no IPads, no Laptops, and no no no WORKING.....

Until the 4:30 class of course.  We then head to the gym together for the 4:30 class and usually follow that up with either the competition team when we aren't in the middle of a challenge or a challenge WOD...which puts us all leaving the gym together no earlier than 7 pm.

Knowing that one of us will not be home to get dinner started we've had to become creative in making sure that dinner is on the table when we all end up in the same place at a late time.  It's bad enough that we are eating dinner at 9 pm on Monday's and Wednesday's...it's nice to have dinner by 7:30 on Tuesday.

So.....along came crock pot Tuesday.

I have tried a lot of things in the crock pot.  Your traditional pot roast with potatoes and carrots.  I made beef ribs in one crock pot while the other one had sweet potatoes, an apple, and loads of cinnamon for my famous smashed potatoes recipe.  Of course you can do cabbage and sausages and your chicken is amazingly tender when cooked slowly in the crock pot all day. But just the other day I stumbled across a stuffed peppers crock pot post and I thought to myself.....hm, I need to try that.

My family LOVES stuffed peppers....I don't mind making them.  But the process takes forever and 24 pans later I finally have dinner ready.

SO, I pulled out my old stuffed peppers recipe and decided to go for it:

Step #1:
Line the bottom of my crock pot with red potatoes.
(In the scheme of eating protein, carbs, and fats....I wanted to add a more complex carbohydrate to our meal.  I chose red potatoes.  Although we don't eat them often, I do love me a potato every now and then.)

Step #2:
Cut the tops off of 6 colored peppers.  Discard the stem.  Save remaining parts that can be eaten for stuffing mixture. Place peppers in crockpot.

Step #3:
Create the stuffing.
I used 1 lb ground beef.  1 pound turkey sausage.  6 garlic cloves finely chopped. A couple stalks of thyme.  6-8 green onions finely chopped.   2 eggs.  4 slices bacon (raw) chopped.  The tops of all my peppers finely chopped.  Chopped parsley.  It called for celery finely chopped I didn't have any so I added celery seed for flavor.

Mix everything together. Do not cook.

Step #4:
Stuff peppers with stuffing.

Step #5:
Cook on low for 8 hours.

Step #6:

Enjoy.  I used one pan and this fed 4 adults and 1 child and a dog.  Gage and Brooke each ate 1/2 of a stuffed pepper and 1 potato.  Jim and Brandon each ate 1 1/2 stuffed peppers and 1 potato.  I ate 1 stuffed pepper and 1 potato and didn't finish mine so Alvin enjoyed it for breakfast the next day.  We had one left over pepper that Brandon brought to work and heated up with a potato for lunch the next day.

Jim topped his with sour cream....you could add shredded cheese or parmesean if you're more primal.  

Comments heard from my family....please cook stuffed peppers every crock pot Tuesday!!  These are amazing and yummy. 

A peek inside our refrigerator.....

So, last week I held a nutrition class for the athletes that are participating in the open games challenge.

I thought I would give you some insight as to what a weekly grocery shopping looks like for me.  Remember I told you when I find a good sale, I stock up. 

It's Sunday morning and all the shelves in my refrigerator are bare.  It's actually not too common to see the refrigerator loaded with food as I try to pretty much buy what we are going to eat for the week as most of our food is fresh.  So, by Sunday it's scraps and leftovers.

The weekly ads come out on Sunday morning.  I scour the pages of all the ads.  Meijer, Target, WalMart,  and Kroger (which usually lands in my mailbox on Tuesday's) I also make sure to hit up Aldi's.  I prefer heading to Goshen as the stores aren't as busy and they are pretty much all in a row as I make my way through each one.

Let me remind you that earlier in the year, I purchased 1/4 of a grass fed cow.  I also stock up on chicken, turkey, and such at DC Meats....so my morning plans are normally to pull something out of the freezer to thaw for dinner that night.

Yesterday's Agenda:

Stop #1:  Sam's Club
On my list.  Toilet paper.  Downy.  Large bag of raw almonds.
Purchased:  All of the above plus a large bag of prunes.  First time I had seen them at Sam's and they are my FAVORITE to go with my post workout protein shake.  Lot's of carbs and full of fiber:0)  YUMMY.  They also had this huge jug of EVOO, bought that as well. Also grabbed a large bag of frozen mixed berries.

Jim will be blogging about his almonds and you will know why we needed to buy those:0)

Stop# 2:  Target
On my list.  SoBe Water is on sale 10 for $10 and if you buy 10 you get a $5.00 gift card.  I don't drink SoBe Water, but Brooke and Brandon like it every once in awhile as a treat.  Normally we live on water and almond milk.  I figured for that price I would buy some in hopes to keep Brandon away from the mountain dew.

Stop# 3:  Aldi's
On my list:  Container of mixed nuts.  Veggies.
Purchased:  Container of mixed nuts.  Bag of red potatoes $2.29.  2 bags of tri-color peppers $1.99 each.  Bunch of bananas .44 cents a pound. Bag of oranges $2.99.  Bag of fuji apples $3.49. 
I love Aldi's I really do.  I had seen a similar but name brand container of mixed nuts at Sam's for $15.00 so very happy that this is only $10.00.    It's deluxe mixed nuts with NO peanuts. I usually take them home and add raisins or currants to the mixture.
Their vegetables are not organic.  I do make sure to wash everything that I purchase from there extra good.

Stop #4:  Starbucks.  Refueled for our big trip into Meijer's.

Stop#5:  Meijer
On my list:  Meijer had a big sale this week on item's that were 10 for $10.00 and if you buy 10 you get the 11th for free.
Some of the $1.00 items were:  larabars, quarts of strawberries, dole fruit cups, canned chicken, pasta sauce, salsa, spicy mustard, avocados, pints of tomatoes, blackberries, - on the items that were perishable I bought enough for the week....you can also stock up and freeze the berries.  At this price it's like stealing you're berries.  I LOVE berries post workout as well...and just for a snack every once in awhile.  The canned items, like pasta sauce, salsa, and chicken I stocked up.  When they are only $1.00 that's the time to buy.
Also, bought.  Almond milk. Marzetti's simply dressed ranch and thousand island dressing.  Some toiletries.

So, my food for the week is purchased.  Some things will last past the week.  The produce and perishables will be eaten and the refrigerator shelves will be empty by next Sunday.  Total time away from home was under 2 hours. 

My dairy items will be delivered on Wednesday:  I order those from Layman farms through Dr. Angela's office.  Milk, cheese, butter, and Alvin's dog food.

My eggs- I picked some up this week at DC meats for $3.25 a dozen.  I picked more up from Angela's office $2.50 a dozen.  And of course Robin gets them for me when she can $2.50 a dozen.  If I am desperate we will buy the cage free eggs at the grocery but I end up paying almost $4.00 a dozen.  We normally eat 5-7 dozen eggs a week....so I buy them often and when I find them. 

100 Random Facts about Carole Ann Turnbo

I am going to attempt to write 100 random thoughts and facts about myself.  Some of you may already know this about me and some of you may not.  Here goes:

1.  I love coffee.
2.  I'm afraid of drowning.
3.  I don't like to touch raw chicken.
4.  I talk to my dog like he is human.
5.  I cry at least once a day.
6.  I laugh more than I cry.
7.  Usually at my own expense.
8.  I hate doing dishes.
9.  I love doing laundry but I hate matching socks  and putting it away.
10.  I procrastinate....really bad.
11.  I'm not a good listener...if you want me to know something tell me at least twice.
12.  I hate wet sinks.  I'm not lying.  If I walk by a sink I have to dry it.
13.  I love chocolate.
14.  I love ice cream.
15.  I never ate potatoes until I was pregnant with Brooke. 
16.  I love potatoes....especially sweet ones!
17.  I am addicted to sugar (oh and probably coffee!)
18.  I barely ever drink water.
19.  If I do, it's usually someone else's.
20.  Christmas is my favorite holiday.
21.  I love babies.  I wish I could have more babies.
22.  I hate guns.  There is one in my house now.  I can't stop thinking that I hate it.
23.  I am so lazy that I will literally be at the point of peeing my pants before I get up and run to the bathroom.
24.  I love to bake.
25.  If I bake, I will eat the majority of whatever it is.  I don't know when to stop.
26.  I love to shop.
27.  I wouldn't think twice about paying $5.00 for grassfed butter but I would think twice about paying $5.00 for a new shirt.
28.  I don't like to peel oranges, I hate when it gets under your fingernails.
29.  I have a little bit of a jealousy problem.
30.  I am very good at praying but not so good at reading the bible (one of my 2013 goals)
31.  I never set goals until I met Jim.
32.  I love Jim. 
33.  I love spelling games.
34.  Although math is my favorite subject.
35.  I love my kids.
36.  I would do anything for my kids.
37.  I hate when people say "Guess What?"
38.  I would rather text than talk.
39.  I screen my phone calls.
40.  I'm shy.
41.  Sometimes, I think I'm fat.
42.  At times my confidence is low.
43.  I like drinking out of straws as opposed to cups.
44.  I speed.  Almost all the time.
45.  I am always late, and I don't know why cause I am speeding.
46.  I hate to drive in the snow...I take that back about speeding...I drive like a grandma in the snow.
47.  I can't wait to be a grandma. Back to that baby thing.
48.  I sleep with my phone by my bed.
49.  I sleep on my stomach.
50.  My favorite outfit is my birthday suit, if I lived alone that's what I'd be in most of the time;)
51.  I have about 50 sweatshirts.
52.  I love lulu lemon.
52.  I never read.
53.  I get mad at Jim when he reads and doesn't pay attention to me.
54.  I need a lot of attention.
55.  It's my fault my kids need a lot of attention.
56.  I spoiled my kids.  I held them ALL the time.
57.  I hate going to the bank.
58.  I hate when I am telling someone something and they say, "I know!"  If you knew, I wouldn't be telling you.
59.  I hate being lied to.
60.  Sometimes when I don't know a word, I'll just make one up.
61.  I don't fare well with electronic equipment.
62.  Apparently I have something called sleepy talk....that scares me as I don't recall most of these convo's.
63.  My nickname when I was a baby was Lovey.
64.  My nickname from Jim is Doll.
65.  My kids still call me mommy. 
66.  I get sad when my kids call me mom....which is ever so rarely.
67.  I super duper love the beach.
68.  I refuse to go sledding.
69.  I am petrified of haunted houses.
70.  Oh yeah and corn mazes.....eeeek!!
71.  I argue with my GPS.
72.  I'm usually wrong...
73.  I have 4 sisters and 4 brothers.
74.  One of my brothers died 3 years ago on 1-18.  I miss him.
75.  My dad has Alzheimer's.
76.  My parents live in Fort Wayne.....and most of my family....I miss them.
77.  My favorite color is purple.
78.  I love shoes.  Especially my o-lifting shoes.
79.  I qualified for the masters....and I am super excited.
80.  I love CSI, Law and Order, and Criminal Minds.
81.  When I was young I wanted to be a nurse.
82.  I used to smoke.  (I know GROSS!)
83.  I like toasted marshmallows but not smores.
84.  I like beer and margaritas.
85.  I love to be barefoot.
86.  My feet are usually always cold.
87.  I wish I could grow a better garden.
88.  I grow beautiful indoor plants....hm.
89.  I hate double unders.
90.  Oh, and running.
91.  I love clean and jerks.
92.  I like getting the mail.  It's like getting a surprise every day.
93.  I love breakfast in bed.
94.  I didn't start exercising until I was 38 years old.....
95.  I love spreadsheets and making lists.
96.  Jim puts my toothpaste on my toothbrush for me every night. 
97.  If I love you, I'm not afraid to tell you.  I think you should always let the ones you love know.  I will tell you, I will tell my husband, I will tell my friends, I will tell my kids, my animals, my plants, my whatever I love...I believe that love is everything.
98.  I like to believe I never look back and always look forward.  I like to think that I can't move forward if I were looking over my shoulder at the past....but I do think that my past is a true reflection of who I am today and what I will be know for tomorrow.
99.  I live by a "no regrets!" motto.
100.  I love bed head!!!  LOL

There you go, I did it.  Not gonna lie at about 26 I thought how am I ever going to finish this.  Enjoy.  C