Low Sodium Spaghetti and Alfredo Sauce

We don't eat spaghetti nearly as often as we used to. My family loves to pick on me for how much we used to make it. But it has been a favorite of the kids. And a simple meal that I can throw together in a rush. With the need to drop all the extra sodium, however, I had to rethink making it or chicken Alfredo. That is, until I found some homemade recipes for them. We have found that we actually prefer it this way! The flavor of jarred sauces has become so bland. We bought Ragu in the past. It was within our price range, but had some flavor to it. I would always add my own seasonings though when I used them. But with these recipes, I can easily make sauces ahead of time, freeze them and pull them out as needed. I can make multiple batches with ease. The lower sodium count keeps my mind at ease too. So if you are looking to cut out the extra sodium or maybe you just want a great recipe to make your own sauces, then look no farther! Simply delightful! 

Spaghetti Sauce

 

2 tbsp basil
3 tsp garlic
1/4 onions
1 1/2 tsp ground oregano
8 tbsp tomato paste (no salt added)
15 oz tomato sauce (no salt added)
1 1/2 cups of water
red pepper flakes to taste, optional

Mix everything in a sauce pan on low heat. I cooked it for about 10 minutes while stirring occasionally. You can then let it cool and then store it in the freezer for later or use immediately. 

For lower sodium meatballs, switch to Kikkoman's Panko breadcrumbs. Super low in sodium compared to the Progresso I used to use. Don't add the salt! Stick with herbs and seasonings instead. I use oregano, mostly, but also basil. If you want tangy meatballs, try adding low sodium soy sauce, I use Kikkoman, and a little ginger and brown sugar. Mmmm it is magnificent! 

Alfredo Sauce 

3 tbsp garlic
3 tsp parsley
2 1/4 cup low sodium chicken broth
3 tsp lemon juice
3 tbsp all purpose flour
3 tbsp olive oil 
2 1/4 cup 1% milk
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1 package of pasta

Start by sauteing the garlic and flour in the oil. Then add in all the other ingredients except the pasta. Simmer on low. Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the package instructions. Drain and mix with sauce. It is just that easy! 

It's moving time again....

May I just start by saying... I HATE moving! It's miserable, time consuming and seems to be a strong supporter of holding me back.  In the little over 6 years I've been married we have moved about... 7 or 8 times? Including one very long and draining move across the country from Texas to Florida... with 3 small children in a Buick LeSabre with a trailer about the size of or slightly larger than my car trailing behind us. Besides the few hilarious moments when my deaf husband would do the fist pump so that truckers would honk as we went by, it was tiring. My back and legs ached and on parts of the drive I almost went off the highway when extreme exhaustion hit me like a sledgehammer. You see, I'm the only driver. And that's about 20 hours of driving with minimum stops. Plus I get to listen to the children complaining in the backseat, worry about the trailer dragging behind and wish I was alone on a sandy beach listening to anything besides the kids soundtrack CDs that I now have just about memorized. I've moved during pregnancies in the hottest parts of summers. I've packed entire apartments very nearly on my own while my husband slept during the day and worked overnight.
I hate moving. With a burning passion.
And yet, here I am again. Packing. Cleaning out. And preparing for another long move. 

 This time I'm transferring my job to another store so we won't have to end up living in a hotel while I scramble for work. And my husband is disabled. So there's some comfort. I've made friends here who are joining my other friends as online buddies. I feel like I'm abandoning my amazing coworkers here for the unknown folks of another store.
Housing arrangements are still in the air. My apartment here looks frightfully desolate as half of everything is in boxes already. And being OCD is driving me insane! I can't stand clutter, so having boxes stacked along the walls makes me feel like a freak from Hoarders.
Once again my children are showing signs of being unsettled as we have yet to firmly set roots anywhere.
So many questions swirling in my head. So many fears. Are my children ever going to have a good solid place to grow up? I sometimes feel like we go from apartment to apartment and they are like the puppies growing up in a pet store. They don't have room to run and play. To be free. For most of my childhood, my parents had houses. I went bike riding, roller blading, running, climbed trees... I had adventures. I want the same for my kids. But I'm always struggling. We can only afford so much. And time is quickly passing us by. Between work and getting daily chores done, we seem to miss the times of taking the boys fishing, going to the park, or visiting family and friends.
To make matters worse, my husband spends at least 2-3 hours (broken up in intervals between his gaming) to "talk" about what sort of housing situation I want. All the while knowing that I'm going to give the exact same answer I have been giving for the past month because we both know where we will end up in the end despite our best efforts for the ideal home. A house would be amazing. But at this point I'd settle for a 2 bedroom apartment so long as we get to where we are going and have a place to rest after the move. And so long as the one sided "discussions" finally end.
There are still the daily activities that come with being a working mother. Preparing and cleaning up after 2 meals a day, organizing the packing scene and de-cluttering, home schooling two highly active boys who get ants in their pants when told to sit still, working part time 3 days a week, and then trying to get enough sleep to keep me out of the zombie zone.
Some mornings I hear the "Mom" alarm and want to hit the snooze button (if only there was one). But the voices get louder. And they multiply.

I've been working on getting them ready for the move. I made up a backpack of toys, bought some fun packs from the Dollar Spot at Target, and tried telling them what's happening. They look forward to seeing their Oma and Papa. I got them in on "helping" me pack the toys...

 Finally there is the "Going Away" project. You know when you are going far enough away that you won't see the people you are close to for quite some time. So you plan shindigs and soirées to see everyone to say goodbye. Only it's hard to find those times. Most of them are later at night. Then comes writing those heartfelt goodbyes. I believe that when you truly mean it, you write it. Not just say it.
All of this leads to the choice of curling up  in the fetal position whilst growling at any who dare approach... Or rolling with the punches and taking it one step at a time. I'm still fighting the urge to take the first option.
I know that the next few months will be a completely different nightmare. On top of being in a new place, I'll be starting over in a new store as the new girl all over again. Let's be honest, I don't make friends well. I hide in my shell until someone forces me out. Ask my best friend. She literally scared the friendship into life. Then she dragged me into her circle of friends of our workplace adding two other besties to my life long pals list. I think that's sorta how it worked out in my latest job as well. The outgoing, friendly people pulled me in and one of them even gave me a run down on everyone else so I didn't come out feeling like a total stranger around everyone. Now I'm starting over...
School is going to be put on hold. Again. 6 years is a long time to put college on hold. Especially when you had so few classes left towards your degree.
So much to do. So little time. Sadness, frustration, anxiety... all tugging away at what's left of this moms sanity. I certainly hope for the best, fear the worse and will do everything I can to make it the best transition possible! Thanks for listening to my craziness. Feel free to tell me what you think about it in a comment below.

Where have our virtuous values vanished to?

Once upon a time...
We have all heard stories that start with those words. Nowadays it's the title of a hit TV show depicting classic fairy tales with a modernistic twist.

They are also typically the beginning of tales concerning bravery, honor, dignity, honesty and chivalry. Whatever happened to those virtues?

A man who would brave the monsters or stand before an army showing no fear, only courage, to his enemies. Women with honor worth fighting and dying for. Anyone ever heard of the old common law - You touch her, you marry her? Shot gun wedding? Even if you don't like musicals, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is where I first learned the terms. I'm not a big musical fan, but that was one I could watch over and over. Historically, if you "touched" her, your choices were to marry her with her dad standing ready with his shotgun or he would hang you from the nearest tree.

Dignity is a word that most people these days probably don't even know the meaning of. "Dignity - the quality of being worthy of esteem or respect." Once upon a time, you earned high esteem and respect by the way you acted towards and treated others. Just as the Golden Rule says: do unto others as you would have done unto you.
How many people these days feel guilty when they tell a lie? When I was growing up, there was no such thing as a white lie. You either tell the truth or you don't. And yes, sometimes the truth hurt. Sometimes people get their feelings hurt because they can't handle the truth. Or they just don't want to accept it. Does that mean we should just baby their feelings? I think not. It's raising a generation of pansy-hearted fools who want to live in a day dream of over-inflated egos.

Chivalry, according to the dictionary means courtesy towards women. It was more than opening a door and letting a woman pass through first. A gentleman would lay down his cloak or coat over a mud puddle so that a lady wouldn't soil her petticoat. He would go that extra mile just to put her mind at ease or to see her smile. Don't get me wrong, I don't think women should be as weak as they once were. Fainting at the sight of blood? No, thanks. Nor would I want two guys to duel over my affections and have the winner (whoever was still alive) calling claim over me afterwards. It's the passion and honor though that has been truly lost. And to be honest, women may have been the ones who pushed it all away. Women fought for equality, which is fine in some areas. But we keep pushing. If a man holds the door open for the wrong woman, the response might be something along the lines of, "What? I can't open my own door?" when it should have been, "Thank you."

Today we have STD's running rampant, young girls becoming single mothers, guys chasing what's considered "easy tail", lying about anything and everything as easy as if they were telling the truth, stealing as though everything in the world belongs to them...

What happened? Will we ever truly see the once upon a time moments return? Or will they only appear in the handful of people who are still holding fast to the beauty of an age long past? They seem to be prominent in movies, television and books but the response to them is, "It's just a work of fiction. None of that is true. That doesn't happen in real life."
I hope everyone that reads this, takes a good look around them. I hope you pay more attention to others. Be a little more mindful of how you act and treat those you come in contact with. Who knows? Maybe we can revive old virtues once again.

Journey Bar review

Lately I’ve been on the hunt for healthier living - for me and my family. Especially for travel snacks that are not going to clog our arteries, make a huge mess (especially in this Texas heat) or sweeten my kids up to the bounce-off-the-walls point. Nutrition bars happen to be something I prefer, but most of them out there are sweet. Drizzled with chocolate, chocolate chips mixed in… If I wanted chocolate, I’d just carry cookies and a case of diaper wipes with me. So, to the internet I went – in search of other options. And I found the Journey Bar. These are savory bars ready to go wherever you go! Their ingredients are organic whole grains and authentic spices from around the world. Such a different experience than what most people are using these days. Journey Bar offers these great flavors: Coconut Curry, Pizza Marinara, Rosemary (crunchy), Hickory Barbecue, and Parmesan Romano (crunchy).



Journey Bar sent me a sample bar of each flavor to try so I could review it for you all. I even brought a couple of them to the manager’s office here at our apartment complex to try with me. She first tried the Coconut Curry (I’m not a big fan of coconut). She said the sweetness of the coconut offset the tangy curry flavor in a good but hard to describe way. Then we had some of the Parmesan Romano bar. It was definitely crunchy and tasted a bit like pizza. She says that bar for sure would be perfect to have on hand for days when you are tempted to have pizza but know you shouldn’t! We even shared these two flavors with the office worker and some residents to get a more rounded opinion. By far the vote leaned to favoring the Parmesan Romano. A tangy “pizza” flavor that was satisfying. These are definitely a great and tasty alternative to the widely used, sweet nutrition bars that you sometimes wonder - are they really that healthy for you…



Then came the ultimate test – my kids! I decided to let them try the Pizza Marinara bar with me. And to my pleasant surprise, my 3 ½ year old was smiling and begging for more after the first bite!!! He’s a really picky eater who hardly ever wants anything healthy besides fresh bananas or strawberries. My 2 year old son was too busy watching a movie at first to give me his opinion, but after a while he came running in asking for more “pizza”. 8-) So now I know they are also something that my family can enjoy together! I count this as another win for healthy living in my home.



I also enjoyed reading about how they got the idea and started up this business. Two friends doing lots of traveling around the world - looking for something better than the widespread sweetened nutrition bars to grab on the go. They use herbs and spices from places they have travelled to, to season these bars with. And believe me – you can definitely taste the wholesome flavors. The grain in these is mostly amaranth. It’s seedy, but chewy and dissolves in your mouth. It’s not like most bars that have oatmeal (that’s so chewy you look like a cow trying to get it down).
They have these bars in stores all around the United States. Just check their website to see if they have a store that carries them near you. If not, order online! Another great thing about them – FAST SHIPPING! I spoke with them Friday and received the samples Monday morning. Not many companies out there can boast such fast service.
100% natural ingredients, flavors that give your taste buds a pleasant change in pace, and satisfy you while out and about without the mess. I look forward to carrying these around with me. Want to know more about them? Check out the links I’ve included below.
You can check out their website here: http://www.journeybar.com/
Follow them on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/journeybar.france
Follow them via Twitter here: http://twitter.com/journeybar