Hi My Name is Amber and I am an Isagenix Associate!

if 2 of you sign up for ‪#‎Isagenix‬ with me by Aug 19 at Midnight, I become a "Consultant" vs. Independent Rep AND Get a Cash Reward bonus. I am loving the products! Energy drinks, whey powder, they even have an anti aging skin care line.
Oh and I forget, the enrollment fee is waived if you sign up within this time period also. 

You deserve to GET EXCITED and come with me!

http://amberljohnston.isagenix.com

You can get the President's Pak, which includes a blender!

Or just a shake or some whey protein (LOVE that stuff!!)

Or Here is another option that comes with a blender, too.

Or This is my favorite, the Replenish drink sticks. At first I thought it was going to be just like gatorade or something but both my coworker and I noticed a huge difference in our moods and general feeling good. Which was hard considering we were working on a Saturday (BOOOO!!)

So the Replenish sticks come in a 24 pack, or you can buy a 45 serving tub for about 5 dollars more. 

5 Ways to Save Money on Your Food Budget

1. Prepare Everything You Can at Home.

The number one most important thing to know is that eating out destroys your food budget. If your food budget is tight, stop eating out. Period. No restaurants, no takeout, no deliveries, no gas station snacks. All of that stuff is way more expensive than what you can make at home. Any arguments about “time efficiency” are pointless if you are actually struggling to pay bills. Saving money becomes most important, and eating out is a dumb expense that you can TOTALLY cut by making your food at home. Breakfast (eggs, frozen breakfast ((even though that is an expense that needs to be cut as well. All your food should be made at home, but I understand...I have a 9-5 job and am guilty of buying frozen food all. the. time. )), breakfast shake or smoothie, or just google easy breakfast ideas, cook them all ahead on Sunday, etc.) Lunch, take it to work with you. Leftovers from last night, or make a sandwich (make 5 sandwiches in 30 minutes Sunday night and be set for the week), eat a protein bar or shake. Dinner, make it a special time for the family and no one will miss the not eating out. Set a specific time every evening that you eat dinner together. Depending on who lives in your household, you can take turns cooking, one cooks one cleans, have the kids help prep or do dishes, or if you live alone just make enough for your dinner, and leftovers for lunch the next day. 

2. Baby Steps. Make simple meals at first.

The first rule of thumb when preparing food at home is the more basic the ingredients, the cheaper the meal will be. A breakfast burrito, for example, is far cheaper if you buy a dozen eggs, a package of cheap tortillas, a jar of salsa, and some cheese to make yourself a dozen burritos rather than buying them individually. 

For many people who aren’t used to making their own meals, this can seem like a real challenge, but it doesn’t have to be. Cooking most meals really isn’t that complicated, but you have to actually practice to get good and efficient at it.

The best strategy is to start off making simple things. Make a grilled cheese sandwich. Make a grilled burrito. Make a simple soup. Those things take only a few ingredients and a few steps.

Then branch out to things like making your own bread. Not only is it cheaper, store-purchased bread just isn’t as good. 

Sure, this stuff takes a little time, but it doesn’t take that much time. Especially once you begin to enjoy it. 

3. Prepare Meals in Advance

One really effective strategy is to prepare some meals in advance. Meals prepared in advance can be frozen so that you can just reheat them or finish cooking them at a later time. Things like casseroles and lasagna work perfectly for this. Check out : 10 Meals to Make in Advance

One great strategy here is to prepare a large quantity of something you might have for dinner, then set aside individual servings of those meals in small freezer containers. Then, at your convenience, you can pop those individual containers in the microwave and have a cheap meal. Not only does this encourage you to eat more meals at home, it also allows you to save money by buying ingredients in bulk, and may offer leftovers to take to work for lunch. You will need some good freezer-safe and microwave-safe containers, but the long-term savings are totally worth it.

4. Use a Smart Grocery System

Perhaps the most important strategy of all is to have a smart grocery shopping system in place. This makes sure that you spend as little as possible at the grocery store while having plenty of food to cover your meals for the week.

It’s pretty simple. Start with the flyer from your grocery store that tells you what’s on sale, then use it to identify truly inexpensive things you can base your meals around. From there, think of simple meals that use those cheap ingredients plus other things that you already have on hand – try to minimize additional purchases. Plan out the next week with these meal ideas. Then make a grocery list of those cheap items you need plus any other necessary ingredients, and then head to the store.

Another good suggestion, in line with this strategy, is to buy your non-sale groceries at a discount grocer like Aldi so that you’re spending much less on the things that aren’t on sale.

If you do this well, you can often get supplies for weeks of meals for very little money.

5. Drink Water

This is a huge tip. If you’re drinking anything other than tap water, you’re wasting a lot of money. Your drinking water should come out of the tap, period.

The reasoning here is simple. The primary purpose of beverages is to hydrate you. Water does that more efficiently than anything else. Water is also incredibly inexpensive if you just get it from the tap.

Thus, when you’re in a serious food budgeting pinch, your source for beverages should be your sink. It’s pretty simple.

Not only that, water is filling and keeps you from overeating. A big glass of water before a meal, combined with slow eating, will reduce the amount of food you need to feel full.

Bonus #6. Subscribe to Awesome Shopper to get savings news, updates articles, freebies, coupon matchups and more!

FREE eBook: Clean Food Diet with 50+ Clean Eating Recipes

Here is a free ebook that is great to grab while it is available. Right now you can get: Clean Food Diet: Avoid processed foods and eat clean with few simple lifestyle changes(free nutrition recipes)(natural food recipes) (Special Diet Cookbooks & Vegetarian Recipes Collection Book 4) for FREE.

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5 Time Saving Tips for Dinnertime Doable

–From Cheeky Chive

1. Plan.

Yeah, it’s true. We can’t harp on this one enough. Imagine dinner is the same thing as a project. It’s really frustrating and way more time consuming to finish the job if you are lacking the materials. We are big fans of menu planning. Plan a week at a time, make your grocery list, and get everything you need. If you don’t know where to start, there are dozens of sites that do the menu planning for you, (including ours), however only you know what kinds of things your family will eat.

2.  Keep a well stocked fridge and pantry. 

Keep staple items that will make preparing on the fly easy. There are certain ingredients that get used over and over at my house. I make sure I always have these things. I also always have tons of vegetables in the fridge. There are dozens of recipes I can whip up quickly if I have the ingredients on hand.

3.  Pre-cook and freeze your meat.

If this isn’t part of your weekly routine, then you really need to find 45 minutes a week to do this. I try to buy a months worth of meat, and then pre-cook about 80% of it. I bag it up into 3-4 cup portions and freeze it. I can add pre-cooked chicken to soups, salads, stir fry, and many other dishes, and have dinner made in 20 minutes. I leave some raw for when I do a crock pot meal or a dish where pre-cooked doesn’t work. You can read more about that here.

4.  Wash all your produce at once, and chop what can be chopped.

Anytime I do a big grocery run, I fill my clean sink with water, add about 1 c. of vinegar, and 1 Tablespoon of baking soda.  I dump all my produce in there, agitate for about 10 seconds, then rinse, and dry.  This seemingly simple formula not only saves me time when cooking dinner or packing lunches, it gets all the sprays, waxes, and icky stuff off of your produce.  It works better and is safer than soap.  The only thing to be cautious of is washing things like berries, herbs, or lettuce.  If you aren’t using within about 24-36 hours, it’s best to wait and do that when you use them.  Try this and be amazed and disgusted with how dirty the water looks after cleaning your food!  Pre chop if you have time, and save in the fridge in bags or airtight containers.  It’s just one less step at the busiest time of day.

5.  Practice.

Now I don’t want to nag, seeing as how we just met and all, but it really is true.  Practice does make perfect.  Well maybe not perfect, but definitely quicker.  Just like anything, cooking is a skill that improves with practice.  If you haven’t done it a lot, then it will take longer and be more frustrating.  Eventually you will be able to just whip things up in no time.  Don’t give up.

Along with our 5 best time saving tips, we want to share a couple of our favorite dinner recipes that are super yummy and so healthy.  Both of these meals come from our 20 minute meals collection, which feature meals that only require 20 minutes OR LESS of prep time.  (If you have planned, and pre-cooked your meat).

    

Spicy Avocado Chicken Salad                               Fusilli with Chorizo in Tomato Cream 

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Food / Diet / Money ~ They are all relevant!

This is a repost from a year or so ago, but a good one. Read on :::


My name is Amber. I am 32 years old and work as a Graphic Designer. I am 6'2" (yes!) and currently weigh 220#.
I have pretty much been on a diet my whole life. I was always watching (and emulating) my mother constantly as she would try one diet or another, always making attempts at exercising or eating super healthy only for that phase to last a week. Not to mention the extraordinary large gut which runs on my maternal side of the family, constantly eliciting "are you pregnant" comments and stares .... but that's a topic for a different article.

I continued to be large my entire life, in Jr. High I was 5'11". I wore a size 11 shoe (which they only made in tennis shoes then...no cute Keds or jelly sandals...any of that) I weighed about 150. I had to buy men's clothes. I HATED IT!

Moving on, even through all this, I am always aware of the COST of my food and drink. The calorie COST, the fat COST, the sugar and salt COST, not to mention, that since I have been pretty much broke my whole life, the monetary COST. So my approach to food is this: There is not enough money to waste on stuffing your face with crap. There is no room to nudge on trying to eat a healthy and filling meal when it could be your only meal of the day... (I personally am a late night snacker).

No, I'm not saying these things to try to get sympathy. On the contrary, I am hoping to share my knowledge, that admittedly was obtained through a series of freak situations in my life. Get ready to alter your mind. Alter your thinking of food, for just a minute. A few of the things I tell you will stick in your head forever, like glue, while some may fade away.Either way, I am using one of my favorite books, EAT THIS NOT THAT as my reference in this article.


Here we go:

I never miss an opportunity to learn something new. Especially about my favorite subject, FOOD! Watching cooking shows, reading cookbooks and food books (I read diet books sometimes just to quench my cravings! So it looks like I want to be healthy, but really I am indulging in serious eye candy!)

Its a way to have your own personal love affair with food .... without gaining weight and without breaking the bank. Especially when you only have a cabinet full of Ramen, and Ramen is all that is in sight for your dining future. (When I originally wrote this I was younger and obviously broker!)

P.S. Check out some other things to do with Ramen Noodles :: The College Survival Guide, 50 Ramen Recipes.

My copy of EAT THIS, NOT THAT, is of course, checked out FREE from my local library. I am also signed up for their e-mail blast via  EATTHIS.COM

Now for the RULES :::::

#1 Shred your own CHEESE. Pre-shredded mixtures, even the great Sargento cheese, add sodium and other chemicals to prevent clumping. Buy the block and shred your own.

#2 OUTBACK's appetizer, Aussie Cheese Fries with Ranch & Bacon ~ Hands down the single WORST food in America, and it's only an appetizer!! With approximately 2,500 calories, I will take a steak dinner any day of the week!

#3 Lo Mein noodles are covered in OIL (extra FAT) to prevent them from sticking. Also obviously to make them taste delicious. Have regular un-oiled noodles and rice. Or better yet opt for some steamed broccoli.
#4 Marinara Sauce (not meat sauce and definitely NOT fatty, cheesy, white sauce) is always best for pasta and pizza.


White Sauce (YUM!) <---------- STAY AWAY !!!!


#5 Peaches are the sugariest of all fruits.

#6 Research shows that food puffed with air (Cheeto's, Marshmallows, Cheez Balls, etc) are more filling and a better snack value. (This goes back to the COST of your snack).

#7 3 Musketeers, Milky Way, and Peppermint patty are the best value for candy bars. Airy nougat takes the place of thick chocolate or caramel, so you are eating less sticky chocolate or nuts.

#8 An English Muffin contains less calories than two slices of bread (and in my personal opinion they taste better) so make your breakfast sandwich on an english muffin. The reason for this is obvious. The air in the english muffins equals less calories.

#9 Speaking of MUFFINS, McDonalds Egg McMuffin is the best calorie value breakfast sandwich, in terms of fat and calories. Get this... a regular MUFFIN, like blueberry or raspberry, or worse (and tastier), chocolate .... is like CAKE. It is just as fatty and sugary. You are eating pure CAKE for breakfast! Put it down!

#10 Bacon always beats sausage as the breakfast meat of choice. Simply because there is less meat in a slice of bacon.

#11 Chocolate milk is better to drink pre and post workout than a chocolate protein shake. Really? Wha? Milk contains more natural ingredients, and potassium & electrolytes slowly and effectively get your body going smoothly again. Plus the small amount of sugar in the choco milk is enough to boost your energy for the period of the workout.

#12 Always eat your breakfast within 90 (an hour and a half) minutes of waking. If you wait longer, your body begins to think it will not get a morning meal and starts eating your muscles (eew!)


#13 MY FAVORITE **** Replace ALL (or one a day) of your sodas with water. Just replacing 20 ounces of soda a day with water saves you 200 calories, or 12 pounds a year. Without even trying! The sodium in diet cokes is what keeps you bloated. Everyone will notice the weight you have lost....go ahead, try this for 2 weeks. I double dog dare you.

#14 A Very small .25 ounce of Monterey Jack, Cheddar, Gouda, or Mozzarella cheese will boost pH levels in your mouth to protect from cavities!

#15 Baked potato with the SKIN!!! can decrease blood pressure, because of all the POTASSIUM. Potatoes, even potato chips, are high in potassium which helps ensure proper blood and oxygen flow to your muscles. Bananas are loaded with this too, that's why when you get a cramp, Grandma tells you to eat a banana.

#16 Mixing liquor with DIET SODA can intensify the alcoholic effect (your blood alcohol level) by 50% !!! This is the best tip ever for a broke girl trying to get her buzz on. Bonus points if the drinks are two-for-one during happy hour!

#17 Sunflower seeds are LOADED with Vitamin E, a powerful antioxidant. Also loaded with Vitamin E are items like Swiss Chard, Total Cereal, and Propel Fitness water. Wanna know what the #1 antioxidant in the American Diet is? COFFEE !
Seriously, coffee! Just don't load it with sugar and fatty milks. I use a Keurig and grind my own Starbucks beans. Then I add about a tablespoon of caramel flavoring (which I bought at the Dollar Tree), one generic Splenda, and however much I want of the DIET Coffee Mate creamer.

So is it just me, or do you feel a little Schooled? I hope that you read these tips, bookmark them, print them out, whatever. Just absorb the knowledge, and move forward. Without all that UNNECESSARY fat, calories and a lil extra cash.

******* ADDITION ******* 9/20/2011*****
I was thinking today about something that is of most importance when deciding which foods to spend your hard earned money on.
Always make sure that you read the label! Just because something is "Light" or "Lite" with "65% less fat" think that 65% of 3 grams of fat is only, like, 2 grams. so are you willing to give up flavor just to save 2 grams of fat? Always make sure that you read the nutrition label and the ingredients label. It is usually best to choose the least processed, least chemical ingredient-laden things. If you can't pronounce it, you probably don't want to eat it.
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I'm certainly no expert on diet, food, or money, but I hope some of this information is new to you. Spread it to a friend.
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Proofread and revised 5/16/2015

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