Sprouting

My recent foray into gardening again reminded me of my hippie days and through that mental trail brought me back to the idea of sprouting. I dug out one of my sprouting jars and after a trip to the health food store to purchase sprout seeds, I am beginning to "sprout" again.

Many moons ago I never ventured past cultivating alfalfa sprouts, then I discovered broccoli sprouts. The latter are my favorites by far, however, they do cost more than the run-of-the-mill alfalfa sprouts. Upon my latest sprout shopping trip, I discovered a "sprout sandwich mix." I am not a sprout expert by any stretch of the imagination, so I cannot name the types of seeds in this mix. Nonetheless, my mouth waters just thinking of the coming harvest.

Until my other garden is ready for harvest, I am delightfully awaiting my sprout harvest of nutritional, crunchy, home-grown veggies.

Check out Sprout People and Wikipedia for more sprouting info.
Saunter on over to the Biblical Womanhood blog for more Frugal Friday Ideas!

Frugal homemade microwave PoPcOrN

Making your own microwave popcorn is a breeze and costs less than 10 cents.
1.) Put 2 tablespoons for popcorn kernels into a brown paper lunch sack.
Spritz with nonstick cooking spray.
2.) Fold over the top of the bag 2 times.
3.) Place the bag on its side in the microwave.
4.) Nuke on high for 1 minute plus 20-30 seconds. Stand by and listen for the popping to slow (nobody likes the smell of burnt popcorn!)
5.) Dump into a bowl and sprinkle with popcorn flavored salt. (we use Act II, butter flavored salt-it is a big jug we purchased from Sam's Club over 2 years ago and even though it is past the stated expiration date, it still tastes great.

Tah-dah!! A ONE POINT snack for pennies!

I survived my first 10K

I survived and finished my first 10K in 1:10:57 (a mile pace of 11:26). I met most of my goals....to finish, to run the entire course, to finish in less than 1 1/4 hours (and my unofficial goal to not be last). The uphill beginning was not easy and still I struggle to find my pace at the beginning of races. I did get a mini surge between the 2 and 3 mile marker and again between 5 and 6 miles. Since I have been doing some hill work, the hills were not intimidating. Now I just need to pick up my pace. I want to break that 10:00 mile on my 5Ks and 10:30 on my future 10Ks.

Several friends and acquaintances of mine ran the race as well, so I did not feel alone in this endeavor. Although they are all avid runners with mile paces around 8:00. I hung around a while after the race chit chatting and listening to prizes for age group finishers. I have learned from my other races not to get into my car or sit down because my muscles tend to painfully stiffen up.

I am stiff now and probably will be for a day or so, but I am happy to have finished my first 10K. In a few days or so, I will have to pick out my next race/goal to keep me accountable and headed/training for the 10 miler in September.



PS. I ran w/o my mp3. Still contemplating that one.

Nerves

Tomorrow I will run in the Central Virginia Kidney Association Memorial Day 10K. I am nervous as this is the longest distance race I have participated in thus far. Unlike the other races I have been in, I did not run this course prior to the race. I have only run 6 miles once last weekend and this race begins with the first 1/2 to 1 mile uphill. This will also be the first race that my hubbie and kids do not attend. It is getting hard for a 2 year old and 6 year old to stay occupied while mommy is running (unseen to them) for 30-60+ minutes.

My goals for this race are:
-to finish
-to run/jog the entire route
-to finish in under 1 hour & 15 minutes (I would be tickled to finish in 1:05!)
-to keep my mile pace under 11 minutes

The weather forecast looks good with a morning temperature of 55 degrees. (My ideal running temp is 32-40 degrees.)

I am still debating as whether to use my mp3 player or not. Sometimes there is freedom in running with just your thoughts.

CHEAP salsa at Food Lion

This week Food Lion has the 16 oz jars of their brand of salsa on sale for $1.09. Use the coupon for B1G1 from the site www.foodliongrilling.com which scans as $1.89 off means that the total cost for 2 jars of salsa is $ .29! Salsa--one of my favorite 0 point foods!

Frugal "free" wax paper uses

Over the past weeks, I have gotten great deals on cereal and therefore, I have stockpiled quite a few boxes. My dh & sons go through cereal fairly quickly, so I am breaking down cereal boxes often. I save the wax paper liners to use in one of the many ways:
1.) use as "shake and bake" bags for preparing taco chicken (chicken coated in taco seasoning) or in the "old" days fried chicken
2.) cut up into strips or squares for dividers between hamburger patties to be frozen
3.) cut in to strips for rolling and freezing cookie dough (rolled cookie dough can be sliced for individual cookies to bake as needed)
4.) wrap sandwiches in and seal with freezer tape (for lunch, picnics, etc.)
5.) use 2 liner bags to double bag meats for freezing (some bags are big enough to freeze entire chicken carcasses to use for making soup later)
6.) use as a liner on the kitchen counter top for prepping meats, veggies, etc. This saves some time and clean up for items that might otherwise lead to cross contamination
(These cereal liner bags usually open easily at the seams.)
7.) use as playdough or painting "placemats" for kids (rinse off cereal crumbs first)

I store my extra bag liners in an empty "ziploc" gallon bag box.