Easy BBQ Chicken Quarters

Love this:

I just set the oven to 200 F. Put a dry rub on frozen chicken quarters and let them cook for 4 hours. About 15 minutes before they are done, heat up the grill on medium. Then turn it to low, slather BBQ sauce on the chicken quarters put them on the grill for 3 minutes per side and voila, fall of the bone BBQ chicken. If not frozen, same thing, less time (2.5 hours does the job). Frankly, at such a low temp, I tend to put them in and forget about them, taking them out whenever I'm ready to throw them on the grill.

Baked beans and a salad for the sides and we are good-to-go. Just wish my oldest ate meat, oh well, he will have salad and beans for dinner. :)

That is a whole lot of produce

Oh man, that's a whole lot of produce. So, I spent the $106 for the large box of produce. It is locally sourced, organic, 9-11 different types, in-season, more veggies than fruit and I pick it up at the local drop-off point. Turns out the large box is actually two medium boxes, so I got double of everything essentially. At first when I saw this I thought, "oh shit, how will I use this all." But, really, the lettuce we use for wraps and salads, the fruit goes no problem, some of the veggies can be used to make noodles with the Spiralizer - the tri-blade vegetable spiral slicer (hey, an excuse to make yet another Amazon order), and the rest easily goes with husband's 9 - 10 servings of produce/day. This may just work. I will say the boys loved my veggie intense meals these last few nights. We will see. . .

Speaking of food. . .

Since my last post, I thought I should throw myself equally under the bus. . .

I grew up eating Swanson's Turkey TV dinners, Spaghettios, a lot of red meat and unlimited supplies of Coca-Cola. To say I was a Coca-Cola addict would be a huge understatement. I hated milk, I hated water, it was pretty much Coca-Cola, Dr. Pepper and juice.   Oh yes, and my favorite thing to do driving home from high school was to stop at the local 7 11 and get a Coca-Cola filled to the top with ice and a bag of M&Ms. Such a healthy girl, wasn't I? Yet, weight wasn't an issue for me until college - go figure.

I am a short woman, very short in fact. For many years now, I've been telling my boys that I was so short because I ate so horribly and drank Coca-Cola instead of milk while I was growing and I would be damned (well darned to them) if I let them make the same mistake. Only, the problem here is that genetically speaking, no matter what I would have done, being short was in my cards. Maybe, I could have eked out a couple more inches, maybe, but shortness is who I am and nothing wrong with that. I've been realizing that I need to tweak my message to the boys as the youngest one keeps asking why he is the shortest boy in 2nd grade when he always tries to make healthy choices. He is pretty good about it really. Oh no, what have I done.

So, we talked about exactly this topic. That genetically speaking, they are going to be short and they are beautiful, smart, kind, giving people and height is just a part of who they are physically and means nothing else than that. That eating right and getting lots of good sleep will help them grow to their fullest potential, and that is the goal for a healthy life on all fronts, to make choices to reach our fullest potential in all ways. That is a more accurate message, a more healthy message and one I wish I would have thought about much sooner. And, so it goes.

All about that logic

Since we arrived at our new home, I've been trying to keep on top of the grocery list and resulting bill. I could not understand how we were spending so much and how we could possibly be eating so much food. Well, I did understand, but it didn't seem logical. And, of course, I'm all about that logic.

If you know my husband, then you know that for YEARS he has been a fitness fanatic, including protein shakes and TONS of protein-rich foods. In years past, it was a copious amount of protein shakes. Over the years, while struggling to help our oldest child with his weight and making healthy choices (especially as he is the only vegetarian in the family and someone who seems to crave starches), I've come to the mindset that natural foods are best. The less processed food we put into our bodies the better. So, I've been encouraging this lifestyle with the entire family, including the additional idea that healthy fats (seeds, nuts, eggs, cheese, lean meats, etc. . .) are not bad, but rather limiting starches is the better path. Carbs are not bad (fruits, veggies, etc.), it is the starches that get us (potatoes, corn, sugar, rice, pasta, flour, etc.). Starches should be consumed in moderation, making up the smallest portion of our food choices, trying to choose the healthiest, least processed, versions when we do eat them. It is not about being skinny, it is about being healthy. Period. Yeah, we are not perfect by a long shot. But, the awareness helps. And, really, it just makes sense to me. And, of course, I'm all about that logic.

Well, wouldn't you know, my husband took this all to heart, bless him, and has made the switch off of protein powders and has started ensuring that he gets his daily portion of fruits and vegetables. Only, he had incorrectly calculated servings sizes to be two times more than what they were supposed to be for the fruits and vegetables and three times that for proteins. I couldn't keep up. I would go buy 30 eggs/week (mostly using only the whites), pounds of fruit and veggies (with specific kinds requested) and the fruit and veggies would just be gone in two days, not to mention the amount of other proteins "needed." We have two refrigerators and not enough room to buy a week's worth of food. And, with the nightly mess of him making so much food for the next day; I was almost starting to miss protein shakes. So, we sat down and figured this all out using reputable websites. Now my husband's three lunches/day are based on proper serving sizes, not the two to three times more that he thought was a serving. Now, it makes sense. Now, it is all about that logic.

In addition, we figured out that requesting specific types of fruits and veggies was not realistic, not logical. As, sometimes those requested were not in-season and very expensive. Our grocery bill has been astronomical!!! We need to stick with those fruits and vegetables that are in-season. To that end, I found a service that will put together a large box of fruits and veggies, from local farms, all in-season for me to buy each week. I am excited to give this a try and see if it helps our family maintain the fresh fruit and veggie consumption, but in a more logical way. Because, of course, I am all about that logic. And, yes, I do like the song "All about that bass." :)