Peanut Butter Chocolate Oatmeal Balls

Mmmmm. My chocolate/sugar days arrived last week. You know, the days where you just have to have chocolate? This month I had a craving for my peanut butter balls. I made a double batch and with company staying with us, they were gone in a little over 24 hours. They are healthy, but oh, so yummy!!  They are also good to give away since you don't have to be a health nut to love these!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Oatmeal Balls

2 c regular rolled oats
3/4 c natural peanut butter (no sugar/sweetener added!)
1/2 c raw honey (Trader Joe's, Sunflower Market, Whole Foods, etc.)
2 TBSP whole wheat/spelt flour
1/3 c mini chocolate chips

Mix everything together in a medium-sized bowl. I usually start out with a spoon and then just dig in with my hands! Form into balls and store in your refrigerator.
Just the right thing to satisfy a craving for sweets. Especially peanut butter cups.

Going Cash

Aaaahhh! I'm standing in the line at Walmart with my little wallet filled with cash. I haven't made my envelopes yet, but I did attempt to separate the cash in my wallet. Here's the trouble...I am purchasing things from 3 different categories! Ugh! There has to be an easier way, right? All of my categories are filled with twenties. On top of that, I am purchasing a gift and I left that money in my bank account due to the amount of money we spend online for gifts. Plus, if Duane is buying a gift, he doesn't have the cash envelopes-he doesn't want to go the cash route.
I would love some insight on how everyone manages their money with their spouse. If anyone happens to read this, please feel free to comment. :)

Wow, March madness did take over there for a while with two weeks of spring break. However, U of A didn't make it to the basketball tournament, so our house is a little less "mad" than usual for this time of year. I have placed a total of 3 orders from my green company, and have adjusted my budget to account for the $80 a month I am spending. I took $40 from food and $40 from misc. and put it in this category. This $80 is covering all my laundry, cleaning, dishwasher, "bath soap" and lotion needs.
As far as my March Missions go, I didn't eat so healthy in Tucson...no big surprise there...but, I have revamped my budget. I revisited my book, Money Matters and discovered that we can actually use the percentages Crown Financial recommends for your budget. In the past, we made too little money, and our housing percentage was way above where it should be. Now to see if we can stick to this budget. I am switching to cash, and am going to make some fun cash envelopes to keep track instead of buying them. I have all the supplies already and it really shouldn't be that difficult. I also want to sew a new purse. We'll see....Time to wake up the kids for some eggs and veggies. No fruit for us in the morning! If we don't eat veggies right away, we'll never get our 5 servings in!!

March Madness

Aaahhh! It's March Madness! Today we find out if the U of A is going to the tournament. In my family this is a big deal. They might not get invited this year which would be a tragedy. But that's Duane's tragedy...here's mine: I don't fit into my capri pants anymore!! Thank goodness I have one pair with elastic to get me through until I get that under control. We're headed to Tucson for some warm weather, and my legs are dying to get out of pants prison. So, March Madness for me = March Missions.
Mission #1 Eat healthier. I know many of you laugh at that, but apparently I can eat a little healthier or else I would not have outgrown my pants. :) No money for new clothes, and I like the ones I have besides. I am finishing off my chocolate yummies as I write. Don't want them to go to waste--or waist :) so I better take a walk today. Ha, ha.
Mission #2 Declutter! That has begun already. Out with the old and lying around! They annual Hubbard yard sale is coming up. I am always amazed at how much we collect. Really, did we actually spend money on this stuff? Which leads me to...
Mission #3 Stop spending excess money. Ha, because there isn't excess money. Do you think I can buy only what we need? God, please grant me the wisdom to see the difference between what we truly need, and what is only a desire, and the strength to say NO! Actually, I know I have all the strength I need through Jesus, so I pray that I will use it. I also know that if we ask for wisdom, you give it, and you always give a way out of temptation, so no excuses for being unsuccessful.
Anyone else on any March Missions? I'd love to hear them. Also, any tips always welcome!

Read those labels

I am once again reminded of how important it is to read labels on what I'm eating and giving to my kids! It is a time consuming, and sometimes irritating, task, but it really is important. I keep three skinny, rectangle drink holders - the kind with the spouts - in our 'fridge. This way, we have three drinks readily available, within the kids reach, and I don't have to continue to make more because they hold twice as much as a regular pitcher. Iced tea, watered-down juice, and usually homemade lemonade are favorites around here. Last week I switched out the lemonade for the new orange sports drink we are trying. I bought it in my last order, and it is supposed to be healthier than the regular gatorade. Duane is in the field a lot right now, so I thought a good, healthier electrolyte drink would be good. Confession, I didn't really read the label, just what they were saying about it. I missed the low calorie part. Low calorie always sends warning lights my way. I don't like chemical sweeteners. I've never counted calories, I have radically adjusted what I eat, but have never worried about calories, just whether something is healthy or not. Anyway, I was cleaning up my 'fridge last night - the spouts do drip a bit leaving juice and sticky residue on the bottom of my 'fridge - I couldn't get the orange sports drink to go away. It stained the inside of my white refrigerator. :( So, this prompted me to read the label to see what they are putting in this stuff. (Since we started drinking it, my kids have broken out in a mysterious, very itchy rash...but this could be due to something poking them while we were working in the garden...can't quite nail it down yet.) Ends up they are using beta-carotene and red beet juice. Not bad, no toxic food coloring there. This is good, but I bet that red beet juice just stained my 'fridge! Maybe they can recommend one of their cleaning products that will take care of this problem. :) However, I did see that in addition to fructose, they are using sucralose - otherwise known as aspartame - to sweeten the drink. Yuck! Not what I look for in a healthier drink. Bummer. Oh how I wish I had the money to go all organic. Oh well, another lesson learned right? Be joyful always...

Return, return

I just posted about face lotion, and then this weekend noticed that my face was peeling! Hmmm, apparently not enough moisture for my dry skin. So, I will be trying out this company's famous satisfaction guarantee policy. We'll see how tough it is to get my money back. More later...