Book Review: The Hour That Matters Most

I was recently given the opportunity to review the book, The Hour That Matters Most by Les and Leslie Parrott with Stephanie Allen and Tina Kuna.

The premise of the book is why the family meal is important and how to get the most out of that golden hour. We eat dinner as a family most every night. Of course, my boys are 5 and 3 so aside from soccer one night a week, our weeknights are free. Luke is homeschooled so all of our school work is finished early in the day, so no homework (Yes, lots of kindergartners I know have homework!), ect. Americans are too busy and the average Christian family is no exception. We spend too much time on extracurriculars, sports, practices, clubs thus neglecting family time. We are pulled in a million different directions and rarely spend any time as a whole family unit. And while these are huge soap boxes of mine, I understand that this book is not out to solve that problem. (Though I will admit that is all I could think about while reading the beginning of the book!)

So, what does the book actually attempt? To help you realize how important the family meal is and how to make the most of it. And I think it does a good job at this.

The book gives great statistics at the differences between families who have regular family meals and those who don't. Some of them really are surprising.

My favorite part of the book though would have to be the tips on conversation with your children. Drs Les and Leslie Parrot, practicing psychologists and family and marriage counselors, give numerous examples and ideas on how to engage with and relate to your children in conversation, as well as how to avoid unnecessary conflict! There is also a chapter on manners that I especially appreciated as sometimes I think that is a lost art! I know that these tips will definitely be useful in coming years as my children get older. For me, these tips will surpass the family table and will be helpful in all areas for my family.

I think this book would be a great read for anyone who is wanting to regain that time together at the family table. For those of us who already have regular meal times together, The Hour That Matters Most gives great advice on how to make the most of that time together.

At the end of each chapter there is a recipe and tomorrow night I'm trying out one! All of the recipes are simple to make and most of them are pretty healthy, although I'd have to make a few substitutions for a few of the ingredients! Check back for the review on Friday!

**I was provided a complimentary copy of this book in exchange of my honest review.**

The Search for Square Pretzels

Photo from Disney Family Fun

Update: I found them! Actually my sweet husband found them! He drove about an hour and a half away to get them for me! And I didn't even know! :) Then, guess what? I went back to WalMart.. and they had a gazillion bags! Of course! ;)



See those square pretzels... that's what I'm looking for! Some call them waffle pretzels. I can't find them!! We have been to five stores in search of them and also called another, but no luck. They are no where to be found. This is the recipe I'm wanting to make: M&M Nativity Legend and Recipe with Candy Cane Kisses! Super cute! And Candy Cane Kisses are probably my favorite holiday candy.

You can make many variations of this candy though with whatever kisses and M&M's you like. Last night I was reading a few blogs and found a new "Bakng with Vivi" video over at Raising Homemakers! (Remember, I shared with you all about her Tuna Salad Video). She is just precious and explains so well how to make this yummy treat!

So, if you happen to find the square pretzels, pick me up a bag or two! What kind of easy treats do you like to make at Christmas?

Menu Plan Monday..is back!

Yes, it's menu planning time!! And it's time to start putting it up on the blog and up on the memo board by the computer! I totally got into lazy mode a few weeks ago and while I still made up a menu, I was just sloppy in my planning and sticking to that menu! I scribbled down an idea and really wasn't as focused and organized as I like when it comes to our food plan. It's so funny to me that the majority of my house is an organizational disaster but I like to be organized when it comes to my food!

So, I haven't been sick (I haven't blogged about that yet!) so, we'll see how meals go when/if that happens! So, for this week:


Chicken Soft Tacos w/ Black Bean and Corn Salsa

Lasagna & Salad

Chicken Noodle Soup, Biscuits

Cheesy Scrambled Eggs, Homemade Cinnamon Raisin Bread

Grilled Cheese, Tomato Soup

BBQ Baked Chicken, Green Beans, Mashed Potatoes

I'm praying that the sickies stay away until at least after Thanksgiving!:) I'm still trying to decide what I'm going to make! One year I'm going to be brave enough to let my mom off the hook and cook the whole dinner.. but not this year!


Check out orgjunkie.com for more menu planning ideas!

Menu Plan 9.20.10

We had dinner at my moms twice this week and we had a leftover night so three of our meals are repeats!

Sunday (last night)- Taco Salad w/ Homegroup

Monday- Cheesy Stuffed Shells (was manicotti but I bought jumbo shells instead), Salad

Tuesday- Leftovers

Wednesday- Chicken Nachos w/ Black Beans

Thursday- Cheeseburger Soup (new recipe, found one without velveeta, sounds yummy)

Friday- BBQ Chicken Pizza, Carrots w/ Dip

Saturday- Hamburgers, Potato Salad, Baked Beans

Friday's Food for Thought

So, you may have noticed recently that I've been talking a little more about real foods, butter, whole milk, coconut oil... So, I thought I'd just share a little bit about what got me thinking about all of this and where I am now (below I'm listing some really good links):

First of all, I have a deep desire to feed my family well. I am a mother and a wife and it's my responsibility to cook for them and feed them. The more I desire to do well in that area, the more I research and learn about what foods are best. I'm so thankful for the vast amount of information that is available on the internet. From my research I've learned that fats, particular saturated fats, aren't bad for you. In fact they are actually GOOD for you! Healthy! The fat in butter, whole dairy(milk, cheese), coconut oil, eggs, and cold pressed extra virgin olive oil are good for you! I'm learning how to use each of them properly (did you know frying in olive oil at high temps can cause carcinogens!?). I've learned that staying away from processed foods can help you save money, thus allowing money to afford those items above from better sources (Wright's Dairy! Yum!). I've learned that while it may take a little extra time to make something from scratch, than to open a box and 'prepare', knowing I'm doing my family good makes it worth it! I am convinced that cancer, heart disease, diabetes, ect are so directly a result of our horrible eating habits. I'm convinced the chemicals used on produce and in our foods, the BPA used to package our foods, the hormones packed in our meats and dairy, the cheapo grains our animals are being fed... and on and on... are killing us. And while I can't change everything (especially considering the limited grocery stores... hello, why can't I buy organic produce ANYWHERE?), I can do my best. And I can feel good about it. So, I'm doing my best to feed my family real food. Something I read recently said you know it's real food if it doesn't come with a bar code on it! So, let me summarize a few of the changes we have and haven't made:

Changes we've made:

Drinking whole milk only, especially the boys. The boys only drink Wright's Dairy Whole Milk. We do still get WIC and I am praying about canceling it. I think it's a great service to low income families and we have benefited from it. But after all of the research I've done, I really think we should all be drinking whole milk. I don't want to waste the 2% that we still get on WIC so the Hubs and I drink what we get, or I cook with it when I know it's going to be broken down in baked goods anyways.

Eating mostly farm eggs. We get our eggs either from the dairy or my MIL picks up farm eggs from a farmer near by. Eggs are so very good for you! Yes, even the yolk!!

Buying grass fed, locally farmed beef. Currently we get, when we can afford it, Wright Dairy beef. It is more expensive but I know it's SO much better for us! The fats in grass fed beef are easier for our bodies to process and use than from the grains and whatever else they feed those other cows to get them to fatten up and grow quicker for mass production. Ew. Anyway, we buy it when we can, maybe 2 lbs per month. I'm so thankful it's available! And I feel so good when I'm feeding my family tacos or hamburgers from that meat. As far as other meat, there aren't many other options. Sigh.

Buying local dairy, butter and cheeses. (also from Wrights Dairy!) Their butter is soo good! It comes in a huge roll and I just cut it into 4 pieces, wrap 3 pieces in foil, then in a freezer bag and chunk in the freezer. The other goes into the fridge. We also buy their block cheese when we can. We do get cheese on WIC still so we only get dairy cheese when we have a need for extra cheese. I do buy the dairy's whole milk buttermilk on occasion too. It comes in a gallon size only, so I buy it when I know I'm going to be needing a lot of buttermilk!

Limiting packaged, processed foods. Our mashed potatoes come from potatoes, not a box! ;) But I do still buy some packaged foods.. like some cereals, mainly Cheerios and Frosted Mini Wheat. We do get bread on WIC. I'm not sure I'll ever be good at bread making!

Make more snack foods from scratch. I've been experimenting with making granola bars, crackers, cookies, breakfast items, ect for us to snack on. This saves money and gets rid all of this 'question mark' ingredients in the ingredient list. I get to choose what goes in the snacks we eat. I do still buy some snack foods, for instance the boys have been finishing up the Goldfish crackers left over from Luke's party. I also buy granola bars and will continue until I find a recipe I'm satisfied with. I buy Yoplait yogurt. The dairy does sell yogurt but I've yet to try it on the kiddos. They sell it in gallon jugs, and that just seems like a lot. Maybe we'll try it soon! I know some people who make their own yogurt. Hmm. I'd rather just buy it at this point! I also buy 100 calorie pack cookies, ect for myself and the boys as treats. And they still get candy every now and then. There are other things that I buy every now and then that I'm just not thinking of but these are the things that I still buy most often.

And yes, I still buy my Diet Coke! Ahh.. right now, it's for my sanity. Maybe one day I'll give it up!

There are so many things I'd like to change, but it takes small steps. I think I could just throw my hands up and say, it's just food!! I mean, does it really matter!? But it's not just food. It's taking care of my family. And when presented with facts about what is best, it's our responsibility as Mom's (parents) to use that info for the benefit of the people we love (that goes for other things.... like car seats as well!). Now, don't go thinking I won't eat me a burger and fries every now and then.. or a Sonic Milkshake (mm.. I've been craving one!). I never said I was perfect and I don't plan on perfection this side of heaven. ;) I'm just trying to create a healthy relationship with food. I'm in agreement with some things in moderation, but I'm really just trying to eat real food. Another article I read said to go by the 80/20 rule. Eat healthy 80% of the time and don't worry too much about the other 20%. And although I know we're not at 80%, we're adding healthy habits slowly and I'm praying about it as we go.

Wanna know what I've been reading on the subject?

5 Fats You Must Have in Your Kitchen

Healthy Fats and Oils - a HUGE list of great articles on healthy fats.. even ones that cover "Does fat make you fat?"

Oh and by the way.. about fat... particularly losing it, here is my weekly Shred update!

Whew, what a week!

Last week was a doozy! It started with Eli being sick weekend before last. He began with running a fever and having a little congestion. Sunday he sounded worse and had a little cough. Monday he was worse, but I waited. Well Tuesday he woke up and was still worse, and had a little drainage coming from his ears (TMI, I know!) but that's not necessarily a bad thing. His tubes were made to do that. But it did give me a clue that he had a lot of gunk backed up in there! So, I called and set them up an apt for Wednesday afternoon. Well, they both got a shot and zpack. (Bronchitis/sinus infection) I was told to continue breathing treatments, too. I had started them Tuesday after speaking with the nurse. I'm so glad we bought the nebulizer and keep albuteral on hand! On Tuesday, I also started feeling yucky. And by Wednesday I knew I needed to see the Dr as well. I've told you all before when I get a sinus infection, it hits me like a ton of bricks! So by the time we got home Wed afternoon, I was miserable!! The Hubs had his last final Wed night so I couldn't go to the Dr until he got home. So, I got to the after hours Dr at 7pm! Well, I waited and waited and finally went back around 8pm. The nurse took a while getting my pulse and when she took me to my room she told me to lay down and wait on someone to check my pulse again.. because it was up around 120. This of course freaked me out, so I called the Hubs! I asked him to come sit with me! I knew he'd have to bring the boys but I really wanted him with me. I'm so glad he doesn't think my anxieties are silly! I hate going to the Dr by myself. I get so nervous! And that, along with me being a little dehydrated is probably what made my pulse go up. It did drop, still a little high but not as high. Anyway, on the way the Hubs called Gram and Grandad and they picked up the boys. (Thank you!) I just figured they would stay with us but it ended up being better because we didn't leave the Dr until 9:30pm! I got a shot and some strong antibiotics! I'm feeling much better but still not quite 100%! SO.. needless to say we didn't do anything last week! No cooking, no crafts.. just wiping snotty noses.. resting.. and watching movies. And my house.. oh me. It is starting to look better but it just went by the wayside!

Although I didn't cook after Monday night, what I did cook was a new 'recipe'. I made Italian Roast Wraps Monday night. They were so yummy and so easy!! What a great way to use a roast! I love the usual roast w/ carrots and potatoes but you have to admit that sometimes it's nice to do something different! Next time I'll try it with homemade taco seasoning mix for a different flavor!

In weight loss news, there isn't much. I didn't weigh Friday morning but I did get an 'official weigh' at the Drs Wednesday night and it was the same as last week. I'm just stuck but glad I haven't gained any back! With the bathroom remodel and being sick, it's been 3 weeks since I've done any kind of exercising! Hopefully this week I can get some in!!

YUM-O

I've been doing a lot of things in the kitchen and wanted to share some of the good ideas and recipes! In my Monday post I shared a link for Homemade Taco Seasoning Mix. Well, I also made Homemade Ranch Dressing Mix too!

These are pint size jars and it's perfect for the ranch mix. But I really needed a bigger jar for the taco seasoning mix. I have already used both mixes and they turned out great. Last week I made Tex Mex turkey burgers. I used a generous amount of taco seasoning mix on both sides of mine and the Hubs burgers. I just sprinkled a little on the boys. Then I mixed about 1/2 tsp seasoning mix into about 2-3 TBS of mayo for a yummy spread! These burgers were sooo good! I'm going to use it this week for tacos! I also made the ranch dressing/dip mix. You use 2 TBS of the mix with 1 c mayo and 1 c buttermilk. I will admit that this dressing is not exactly like the packet stuff but it is really good! And the longer it sits in the fridge the better. I suggest making it a day ahead before using it. I think next time I might use 3/4 c butter milk and 1/4 c milk, just to cut the tang of the buttermilk. I made ours on Saturday night and it was gone after we ate dinner last night (we had chicken finger salads)! Everyone seems to like it, even my worst critic, Luke. Although, I did kind of have to 'trick' him. I spooned it out of the dish I had mixed it in, into a little cup for him without him seeing it. So, he never knew it didn't come out of a bottle! Just making these two little changes have made me feel so much better!

I have another non-recipe to share with you, like the Tex Mex burgers. It's not really a recipe, more of an idea! I made Chicken, Feta and Spinach Quesadillas last week and they were SUPER! Here are the basic ideas, you can really do whatever you like!

Shredded Chicken, cooked
Spinach (fresh)
Feta Cheese
Mozzarella Cheese (shredded)
Garlic/Onion
Olive Oil

I used a rotisserie chicken for these quesadillas. In a pan, I sauteed a chopped onion and a little garlic for a few minutes in olive oil. Next, I added a few handfuls of baby spinach to let it wilt a little. Put it aside and start assembling your quesadilla. I do a tortilla on bottom, layer my ingredients, then a tortilla on top. Some people do one tortilla and put the ingredients on half and fold it over. Either way, place tortilla in hot pan and layer shredded chicken, spinach mix and then cheese. Put another tortilla on top or fold tortilla over. Cook until bottom is crispy, flip and repeat. Let cool slightly before cutting. When I do this, I usually turn my oven on warm and keep the finished tortillas on a sheet pan. These were soo good! The reason I added a little mozz. cheese is because the feta doesn't melt as well. So, the mozzarella is more for melting purposes and the feta more for flavor! These would be good with mushrooms too! You know, you can put anything in a tortilla! I think I've said that before! ;)

Last night I made another Heavenly Homemaker recipe: Banana Cake. I didn't make a cake though, I made muffins! The recipe is already healthier that most muffin recipes, so I just made the recipe and left off the icing! These muffins are really good! I did sprinkle a tiny bit of sugar and cinnamon on top! I made 12 muffins and then had enough to do one mini loaf. I burned the mini loaf though. Long story, that is a result of a 19 month old who still likes to wake up around 11pm sometimes! I left out 8 muffins for us to much on this week and froze 4 for a quick breakfast one day next week!

*Side note about this picture: As I was taking it, Luke asked me what I was doing so I told him I was taking pictures of our muffins. He said, "Oh, well they won't say cheese!" ;)

I also have a yummy chocolate pie recipe to share but I'm going to save that for later! Tonight I'm making Crustless Broccoli Cheddar Quiche with my farm fresh eggs! :)

Happy Eating!

Monday, Monday.. Time to Weigh In

Well, it's weigh day.. or Friday was anyway! I weighed Friday morning and was surprised to see I had lost 1 lb! Not the three I wanted, but a pound is a pound! So that makes 13 total! It's going slower than I wanted but it's still going! I just have a major problem with sweet stuff and finding time to exercise. I did really well with the exercise in the beginning! Here lately I've been putting it aside to do other things.. and not necessarily bad things. It's not like I'm sitting on the couch eating bon-bons instead of exercising. I'm usually folding laundry, cooking, playing with my babies instead of exercising! Exercising in the morning would be ideal but I just can't do it! It hurts me! I just can't jump out of bed and start exercising! I need some time to get moving.. does that make me old? And to be honest, I need my morning time before the kids wake up to be spent with the Lord! And by the time I read my Bible and pray.. it's almost time for the kids to get up.. so I'm left with the question.. do I shower, or exercise??.. because I don't have time to do both. And I am not getting up at 5:30am to fit it all in! So, I usually take a shower.. and then I exercise later.. and then have to take another shower. In my opinion you ain't exercising if you don't have to take a shower afterwards!

Question for you exercising mommies: When do you exercise?

Alrighty, now for a review:

This recipe isn't exactly low calorie, but it is healthy. I am on a journey to learn more and more about eating healthy. Did you know butter is not bad for you?? Now margarine.. Ew. I've been On the butter bandwagon for a while. But I'm ready to make more changes! It's all about eating real foods.. minimally processed. Now, don't think I've gone all crazy. We still have Cheerios, Cheez Its and granola bars in the pantry. But I'm just trying to slowly change our eating habits. For some thought provoking reading on the subject:

Dr. Uffe Ravnskov: Fat and Cholesterol Are Good For You

High-fructose Corn Syrup's Big Fat Secret

And from a blogger who started a while ago making changes to her families' diet: The Low-Fat Fad is Killing Us.. she has some other great blog post under her Whole Foods Tab.

So, the Chicken, Basil and Spinach Quesadillas. I thought they were really good. Eli liked them too! The Hubs said they were good but I never know what that really means! I used store bought pesto in mine. To make them lower in calories you could easily just skip the pesto and use more spinach. I'll soon be planting my basil plants and I'll have fresh basil that I could throw in with the spinach. (BTW, basil is really easy to grow.) The pesto was really garlicky but I love garlic! Making a non traditional quesadilla also got me thinking about other variations as well. I think I'll be trying different kinds of quesadillas in the future!

Well, time go get busy! Have a great week!

Weigh Day

As I told you last Monday, I changed my weigh day to Friday. So, after a week of NO exercising I figured at best I would have not gained or lost anything. But to my surprise I lost another pound. That makes 8 pounds total. So, since I didn't weigh last week I lost about a pound in 2 weeks. I'm okay with that since I had some cheats last weekend. I must confess to you though that I actually weigh about 6 pounds heavier than I thought originally. When I went to the Dr last Friday evening and got on the scales my heart sank! It said I was 8 lbs heavier than what I had weighed the week before!! I knew that was not right! I knew I hadn't gained that much (I hadn't even eaten anything off my diet yet!). So the only thing I could think of was my scales are off. So, when I came home I weighed on my own scales and sure enough there was about a 7-8 lb difference than the Dr's office. Giving that it was around 6:00pm when I weighed and you typically weigh more in the evening, I decided that I'd say that my scales are about 6 lbs off. This of course doesn't change the fact that I've lost 8 lbs already but what is so frustrating about it is that it means I have about 6 more pounds to add to my total weight loss to get to my goal weight. Poo! So the original goal of 30 lbs is now 36! It sure would have been nice for my scales to be off in the other direction! And instead of 22 to go, it's 28. Sigh.


Ok, now to some better news. Food. Here are the reviews for what I tried this week:


CrockPot Beef Stroganoff - I really liked this. I did most everything that the recipe called for except for a few moderation's. I used beef tips instead of cutting a whole roast. I'm not sure if that did anything to the calorie content of the recipe but I did use the same weight of beef. I also used low sodium chicken broth instead of beef and dried parsley instead of fresh. I never have beef broth and just forgot to pick it up at the grocery store. I did add the dried dill but it could be left out if you don't have it. I think adding a little Worcestershire sauce might be good, especially if you leave the dill out. I also added some frozen peas in the last 30 minutes of cooking. The cook time for the recipe was way too long for me. After cooking it on high for about an hour, it only needed about 5-6 hours on low for the meat to be tender (not the 7-8 that the recipe calls for). I also only added about 3/4 cup of sour cream. I was just scooping and stirring and after about 1/2 to 3/4 c I stopped. I think more would have been too much sour cream taste. (And it saves calories!) I served it over a mixture of white egg noodles and wheat egg noodles (ronzoni). I actually liked the wheat egg noodles and will be using those again. They weren't much more expensive (or I wouldn't have bought them!) but were about 40 calories less per serving. I've tried the wheat pasta before and didn't like it and it's usually a lot more expensive than regular. I have tried the smart taste by ronzoni and we like it. I actually used that last night when I made Italian Chicken Pasta.




Speaking of Italian Chicken Pasta... here is a recipe I got from the Publix magazine.. speaking of Publix, I have a hilarious story to tell about something that happened one year on a trip to the beach with my family and the Hubs.. wait where was I? Oh yeah, I still get the Publix magazine sent to my house, even though I can't shop there anymore. *sniff, sniff* It always has some good looking recipes in it. I got this one from there.




Italian Chicken Pasta


8 Chicken Tenders (cooked, 2 per serving)
1 c Mozzarella Cheese, divided (or 8 slices)
2 TBS Parmesan Cheese, divided
Spaghetti Sauce (24 oz jar or homemade- about 3 cups)
Thin Spaghetti, 8 oz


First bake the tenders and make the sauce. Once the tenders are cooked, put two tenders together in a 13x9 pan. Next put 1/4 cup sauce over each set of tenders. Top each set of tenders with 1/8 cup of shredded mozz cheese (or 2 slices of mozz cheese) and 1/2 TBS of Parmesan cheese. Bake tenders at 350 for 7-9 minutes to melt cheese. While chicken is in the oven cook pasta. Mix remaining sauce with spaghetti (heat through if using jarred sauce). Serve chicken over pasta. Makes 4 servings.


Total calories is about 405. I calculated the calories using Tyson Chicken tenders (200 cal for 2 tenders), 1/8 cup mozz cheese and my homemade sauce. That calorie totals includes 1/2 cup of pasta and 1/4 cup of sauce on top. So, if you used mozz slices, different chicken (deli would be higher calories b/c they are fried) and different sauce it would be off. I think if I used sliced mozz, I'd just do one slice. Anyway, it was a good, quick meal. The Hubs really liked it. It's always the simple things that turn out the best, for me anyway! I served it with steamed broccoli and cauliflower.



I'm also experimenting with a corn bread recipe. I love corn bread! But I haven't found a 'light' version that I like but I think I've almost got it. Hopefully I'll have it mastered next week and I'll share. And lastly, on my wish list:

Yesterday, the Hubs and I were able to do some shopping. I got a wedding band! Some of you know that I lost my engagement and band months ago. It still upsets me so much. I keep praying they will turn up. Anyway, I've been wanting a plain ol' band to wear since my finger has been naked for months! After Valentine gifts from our parent we were able to go yesterday and buy me a band! I'm so excited to have a ring on that finger now! Anyway, we also went in BooksAMillion for some coffee and just too browse. I saw this book, Cooking Light 350 Calorie Recipe, Hints and Tips, and thought it looked perfect. It has 90 recipes that are 350 calories or less. I've been trying to find it on Amazon but for some reason Amazon is not working for me. I love cook books!

Oik, time to go work off some of this Valentine candy... yes, I did eat some! Any good, healthy recipes that you've tried lately??

Menu Plan ~ 2/8/10

This week I'm trying some of the Cooking Light recipes that I posted on my last menu. I'll let you know how they turn out. The menu's I'm posting now are for 2 weeks worth of dinners. I've found it easier on the budget if I shop one big trip every two weeks and make one smaller trip for produce/bread/milk the next. So, it's just easier for me to post my menu's every two weeks. Below I'll give you an update on how the eating/exercising is going.

Turkey Dogs, Baked Beans, Potatoes and Onions

Crock Pot Beef Stroganoff, Steamed Broccoli

Beef and Bean Burritos, Mexican Rice

Southwestern Chicken and White Bean Soup, Mexican Corn Bread

Sloppy Joes, Corn on the Cobb, Green Beans

Italian Chicken over Pasta, Salad

Roast w/ Peas, Carrots and Potatoes, Corn Bread (moved over from last week)

BBQ Chicken Pizza, Cucumber Salad, Carrots w/ Dip


Sandwiches/leftovers/dinner with parents for the other nights.

I typically weigh on Sunday mornings but the more I thought about it the more I realized this was the worst day to weigh!! So, I'm changing my weigh day to Friday. That way if I choose to have a cheat meal on the weekend I can work extra hard that week to make up for it!

Last Sunday (1/31), I was down 3 more pounds, which makes 7 lbs total. And last week I did really well with my eating and exercising up until Friday! Thursday morning I woke up feeling like I was getting a cold.. well, my colds are never just colds. I went ahead and did my 3 mile WATP (Walk Away the Pounds) DVD.. well, it was cut short by about 5 minutes because the glass mirror on Eli's door FELL ON TOP OF HIM AND BROKE (He's okay). Yes, that is a story for later. Note to all parents: never put or leave (in our case the mirror was already on the door when we moved in and we didn't think anything about it) a glass mirror on a door. Anyway, by Thursday night I could not breath out of the right side of my nose. Friday morning I was a mess and totally stopped up. I went to the Dr Friday afternoon and got some meds but even today I'm still not feeling all that great. I can breath but I'm still really congested in my head. It just takes me a while to get over sinus infection. When I get them, I get them bad! It's totally annoying when someone tells me that they just got back from the Dr with a sinus infection and they don't even sound sick... because I am always so stopped up that it sounds like I've got erasers stuck up my nose... for days! And my appearance is lovely.. my nose gets red and peels from all the blowing.. my eyes are watery... even when I start to feel better it takes a while for me to look better. So, needless to say that exercise has been a no go. And although being sick is not an excuse to eat whatever you want, I did make a few unhealthy choices this weekend: pizza on Friday night (my in laws watched the boys so Hub's could come with me to the Dr and they picked up pizza! Thank YOU!)... although I only had two slices of cheese pizza and I did not eat the crust! And then Saturday my parents watched the boys for me (Thank you, too!) and the Hubs so we could grocery shop and nap! I definitely needed that. Saturday was actually suppose to be a date day for us but we opted to save that Olive Garden gift card for another time when I actually feel like going! So, after we dropped the kids off we had Arby's. Fast food. But it was good. Ha! I think the best thing to do after something like that is to just realize that it's okay. It's not the end of the world.. or the end of weight loss. The worse thing to do is to allow something like that lead you into a crazy 'bad' food binge. And I've been there. I know.

Anyway, enough about that. I didn't weigh Sunday and I don't plan on weighing again until Friday. So, I'll let you know when I get there! I'm hoping tomorrow I'll feel up to some exercise. I'm planning on keeping my calorie eating around 17-1800 calories a day for a week or two more and then I'm going to try to cut it back. I read an article by Jillian Michael's saying that it's better to decrease your calorie intake slowly so you're not putting your body in shock. At my starting weight I was eating 2,000+ calories a day (I know, so bad!). So, I dropped it down about 2-300 calories (plus what I burn exercising). In a week or so I'll probably drop it down to around 15-1600 calories and keep it there. Keeping it at this range plus subtracting my calories burned by exercising should equal out to help me continue to lose at a healthy pace... as long as I don't keep eating Arby's!!

I think many people cut their calories way down and then add lots of exercise and their body goes into shock.. then they end up feeling so worn down and starved that they fail. Either that or they don't cut back enough or don't exercise enough. I think often people don't realize how many calories is actually in what they are eating too. It's an eye opener to actually track your calories for a few days!

BTW, the Michelina's Flatbread Chicken Club was so-so. I probably won't buy it again. I did try another one today, pasta with cheese and marinara sauce. It was pretty good. It had a coupon in it and they are still on sale for $1, so Ill probably be trying a few different ones out.

Sorry these posts are so long. I'm trying to at least keep up with blogging about my 'diet' so that I can stay accountable. I plan on posting my (hopeful) weight loss every Monday with my menu. Hopefully this week I will be able to do some more blogging.. not about food!

Visit Orgjunkie to view more menus and recipes.

FOOD!

I love food and I love to cook so watching what I eat is super tough for me. If I'm going to eat something, healthy or not, I want it to taste good! So, what am I eating?? Here is a list of what I normally eat. Of course it changes occasionally but this is typically it.


Breakfast:
Cereal w/ 1% milk & orange juice
1/2 egg & cheese sandwich & OJ
Coffee with my new International Delight Skinny Caramel Macchiato creamer. (click here to save $0.55 on any flavor creamer)

Lunch:
1/2 sandwich (ham/turkey/grilled cheese) & salad
Chicken Chunks w/ salad
Leftovers

Snacks:
Reduced Fat Cheez Its
Kellogg's Fiber Bars (WalMart brand fiber bars are also good too. I get which ever is cheaper)
Fruit
Carrots w/ light dressing
Light Popcorn

Like I said before, dinners are normal. I just watch my portion size and try to 'cut back' on the calories and fat. For instance, when I'm making anything that calls for 1 lb of ground beef, I only use half. This, of course, only works in things like soups and chili's and some casseroles. If ground beef is the main ingredients, as in meatloaf, this doesn't work! Not only does this save fat and calories, it saves money too! I don't buy reduced fat cheeses because we get WIC and it's not allowed. I do occasionally have to buy extra cheese when needed, but I buy what's on sale and it's usually not the reduced fat cheese. So, if you're in a situation like me where you're budget is tight just be careful with how much you use. I made baked ziti Monday night and only used 1/2 lb ground beef in the sauce and then for the cheese on top I only used 1/2 c Mozzarella and 2 T Parmesan. I also only used six cups of cooked noodles instead of the eight that the box makes. When I calculated the calories (out of curiosity), one serving equaled about 350 calories.


I haven't been 'counting calories'.. not exactly anyway. I am just kind of adding them up in my head as I go. I know this can get dangerous if you're not careful. But counting them exactly is just too bothersome for me. I try to get around 1800 calories a day, which along with exercise, will help me lose the weight at a good pace and not starve! I try to stick to 300 calorie breakfast 400-500 calorie lunch, 350 calorie snacks (2-3 a day) & 600-700 calorie dinners. It only takes a few weeks of learning about how many calories is in the foods that you normally eat to learn what you can eat and how much. Occasionally I'll go over to Spark People and enter in my daily food intake to see if I'm on track or I'll go to Spark Recipes to enter in a recipe and see how many calories are in a serving. That is what I used to figure out my baked ziti recipe. I've used SparkPeople in the past but I just don't have the time to enter everything, everyday. So now I just use my account to do things occasionally. It does have some good tools though and it's free.



This week I did buy one of the new DiGiorno 200 Calorie Pizza's. We had pizza night last week so I picked me up a package (each pack comes with 2-200 cal pizzas) when I picked up the guys their pizza. They were on sale so I thought I'd try one. I got the Chicken, Onion and Pepper and it was good... tiny, but good! I had it with a salad and I have another for lunch one day. I also picked up a Michelina's Lean Chicken Club Flatbread. They were on sale too (regular $1.22, got it for $1) even though they are pretty cheap anyway. I haven't tried it yet so I'm not sure how good it is. I use to get Lean Cuisines/Smart Ones a lot but our budget just doesn't allow for that. I figure that I can pick up a few frozen meals if I find them on sales for every once in a while.

Ok, I've rambled enough. I'll leave you with a few links of some recipes that I plan on trying on my next menu. They are all from Cooking Light on the myrecipes.com website.

Beef Stroganoff (crock pot)

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Southwestern Chicken and White Bean Soup

Sloppy Joes or Super Sloppy Joes

A few reasons why I love summer..

From my dad's garden....



From our back yard.. and there's more.. so far we've picked abut 12 cups of blueberries!

... my dad's garden...

.... from my dad's garden....

Mmmmm..

And if you want to know what I've been doing with those blueberries.. I've made Oatmeal Blueberry muffins, and this and this. All fabulous I might add....

I just did a search for my oatmeal blueberry muffins recipe and every recipe that I found (on my blog!) was not correct. Probably because I tweak them so often... but I've finally gotten a recipe that I like and use EVERY time I make them. Here is the final recipe:

Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins (12 muffins)

1 1/4 c quick cooking oats
1/2 c ap flour
1/2 c whole wheat flour
1/3 c white sugar
1 T baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 t cinnamon
1 c milk
1 egg
1/4 c vegetable oil
1 1/2 c blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Combine oats, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Mix in milk, eggs and oil.; mix just until dry ingredients are moistened. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups about 2/3 full. Bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes. (If using frozen blueberries, do not defrost. It may take a little longer in the oven but it's best to keep them frozen solid) These freeze well!

The pie above is so yummy. I just had a piece for breakfast! It kind of turned into a runny mess when I heated it up but it was a good runny mess. It is probably best cold or even at room temp. I'm not complaining though.. I just wish I had some vanilla ice cream to go with it! Seriously, I had dreams of blueberries last night... hahaha...

Ok, I've seriously got to go and make my menu/grocery list for the week... and work on my nursery workers meeting... and unload the dishwasher... and load the dishwasher... and wash a load of clothes... and get ready for my Dr's apt this afternoon...

And take care of my son... my most important job...

~Yum~ Menu (Inexpensive Meal Ideas Needed!)

All righty... we're tightening up the purse strings. My grocery budget has gotten out of hand. You all (all 2 of you.. ha) know how much I love Publix. And I still do. But Publix has caused me to go out of control on my grocery spending. Not because of the prices mind you.. but because of the wonderful selection of food! (oh, and the Bread Lady who loves to woo my son with sugar cookies therefore causing me to buy loaves of bread)... I do still plan to shop there some. They have good BOGO deals often and they take all of my printable coupons.. I did not tell you how impressed I was that they CALLED me the day before Thanksgiving because I had sent an email, on a whim really, to their customer service asking if they accepted printed coupons. Well, the manager of my local (30 minutes away) Publix called me and explained every detail of what coupons they accept and what they don't. I was very impressed with their customer service. I promise you that I don't have stock or whatever in Publix and they aren't paying me in groceries for saying any of this.. though that would be nice. Anyway.. I have got to be more frugal when planning my meals... meaning I need to start planning healthy (or my version of healthy), inexpensive meals by using what is on sale and coupons I have. I am actually excited about this challenge...
Yes, as you can see.. it doesn't take much to excite me. I am such a dork.
So, if any of you (the 2 of you) out there would like to share with me some inexpensive meal ideas, please do!
Maybe one day I'll get with the program and start posting my menu's on Menu Planning Monday. I usually shop for groceries on Thursday so my menu usually starts on Friday... which is weird, I know. So in my world, the whole menu Monday just doesn't seem right. There's some great menu planning ideas on there though! So, here is my menu.. on FRIDAY! :)

~Vegetable Beef Soup, corn bread
~Spaghetti and meat balls (I bought some frozen meatballs 2 weeks ago thinking that Luke might eat them.. that was a huge negative! So I've got almost a whole bag left!)
~Loaded Baked Potatoes (with bacon, cheese and sour cream), salad
~Pancakes, cheesy scrambled eggs and fried potatoes & onions
~Tuna Salad or Ham Sandwiches w/ chips and salsa (Wednesday night is our sandwich night)

I know we'll have lots of soup leftover for another night plus we've got our first family gathering for Christmas tomorrow night. And I normally do not add this but Luke always has a green veggie offered to him at lunch and dinner. Now, that doesn't mean that he eats it but I always have frozen peas, broccoli, etc for him.

So, do you have any ideas for me?? I need some creative help!

I'm off to bake some yummy sugar cookies (with candy cane kissed in the center) for tomorrow. And in the morning I'm making a Gooey Pumpkin Butter Cake!

The continuing saga and a soup recipe....

I haven't posted a menu this week because... well, I haven't had to cook much! We had revival this week and were fed Sun-Wed by the church! Yay! So, last night I made the White Bean and Ham Soup and corn bread. We'll have leftovers tonight and tomorrow night we're going out to eat for my birthday. The white bean soup was so yummy. I'll post the recipe at the bottom. My mom gave it to me and I'm not really sure where she got it from. I also roasted some butternut squash yesterday and froze the puree. Until my son decides to eat veggies I will just have to hide them in muffins and pancakes! My mom gave me the book Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld. A lot of the recipes look great, I only have one problem... Luke won't even eat the 'bad/no veggie' version of the foods.. so there is no way he would eat the hidden veggie version. For instance, there is a recipe for mac and cheese w/ pureed butternut squash. Well, Luke won't even eat regular mac and cheese. I can't hide veggies in meatballs for spaghetti because Luke won't eat spaghetti!! Oh well! I did try her french toast w/ hidden pumpkin puree and it was really good (to me). Luke ate about 3 bites and then started spitting it out. I actually think he liked it. And he might have actually eaten it if I wouldn't have been staring at him. I think he knows I want him to eat it.. so he doesn't. He's smarter than you think! I think the recipes for muffins and breads will work well for us though since Luke will eat anything in bread or muffin form. He definitely loves carbs like his mom! We did have one small step forward yesterday and that was that he ate celery.... raw! I was amazed. I was chopping some for the soup and he was begging for whatever I had. Usually (if it's something he can eat) I will offer him some and he will make a face and say 'no'. Well this time he took it.. and ate it... and kept coming back for more! And, although celery isn't very nutrient dense, at least it's a vegetable! I honestly never know what he's actually going to eat or refuse to eat. It's a guessing game everyday.

Here is the recipe for the soup. I made it a little different than my mom told me so this is my version and it was very good.

White Bean and Ham Soup

2 cans Great Northern Beans
1 c chicken broth (low sodium)
1 1/4 c water
1 medium onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 c smoked ham, chopped
1/4 tsp ground thyme
1 dried bay leaf
2 Tbs olive oil
black pepper

Over med. heat saute carrots, onions, and celery in olive oil for 5-10 min. While veggies are cooking drain one can of beans and pour into soup pot. Open the other can of beans and pour into a bowl, mash beans w/ fork or potato masher; pour into soup pot. Add broth, water, bay leaf, thyme and ham to pot and stir. Add veggies and season w/ black pepper to taste. Bring soup to a boil then reduce heat to low and let cook for 30 min to an hour. I think mine cooked for about 45 minutes covered; uncovered only for the last 10 minutes or so.

**My notes** My mom didn't drain her beans at all. I didn't want to add all of the sodium so I drained one can. My mom also used all water and no chicken broth. I had some left over from my chicken noodle soup, so I used that. Mom also didn't add thyme but I did a search online and lots of bean and ham soups added ground thyme so I added some to mine. I would recommend not adding any salt until the very end because the ham is going to give off a lot of salt. I didn't have to add any salt because of the salt in the beans and ham. I always use low sodium broth because you can always add more salt if you need to. Next time I may add some chopped garlic to the veggies. I made buttermilk cornbread to go with it. I added chopped green onions and shredded cheese to the cornbread batter and it was yummy! I can't for the life of me figure out why R doesn't like cornbread! It's crazy to me....

~YUM~ and my veggie-hating child!

This is long.. just a warning. I thought about dividing it into 2 posts but I can't seem to copy and paste it and I'm not re-writing it!

So my wonderful trip with my hubby (more on that later) kind of threw me off as far as menu planning and grocery shopping goes. We did all of our grocery shopping Monday night because if I waited until my normal Tues or Thurs shopping we would have starved to death! And on a side note, we went to Ingel's because I wanted to 'try' it out... mainly because when we were in Helen we had to sign up for a Ingel's card to rent a movie. Let me just say, I will stick to Publix. So, here is our menu for this week. Nothing too big & fancy but you can tell there is a slight chill in the air because I'm doing 2 soups! And since we're having soup which usually makes a lot I'm not planning as many meals. R will just have to eat leftovers!

White Bean and Ham Soup, Cornbread
Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
Baked Chicken and Potatoes w/ Green Beans
Spaghetti and Salad

We had spaghetti and salad last night and tonight was leftover/whatever-you-can-find night. Tomorrow I'm making the Bean and Ham Soup. It's a recipe from my mom.

I've been struggling the past few weeks with Luke and vegetables. I think I blogged about it before. He has totally decided to refuse EVERY kind of vegetable, unless it's a french fry. Now, I do not buy french fries (I don't even consider them a vegetable) so he only gets them if we go out to eat. I've read articles on picky eaters and ways to help your toddler eat their veggies. Most of them says to keep giving the veggie to them and they will eventually like the food, going on to say that it may take 10 or more tries before they decide they like it. This is all said assuming that the child is at least tasting the food. Luke will not even touch a vegetable (with the exception of peas... he likes to smush them!) much less taste one! I don't really understand it all either.. because just 2 months ago he was gobbling down broccoli, cauliflower and green peas. He would eat the occasional carrot or baby corn on a good day. Well, I found an exception. In my attempt to get my child to eat veggies I decided to do a search for muffins... zucchini muffins to be exact. I found a good looking recipe, made it healthy and baked up a batch while Luke napped. I had one.. and it wasn't the best thing (or worst thing) I have eaten. It's healthy.. so you know?! Luckily, Luke doesn't get many sweets so he has no idea how sweet things are really suppose to taste. He ate 2 muffins after his nap! I was thrilled to finally get some veggies in him! Next time I'm making carrot/apple muffins. I might even try to find a way to sneak broccoli or spinach in them! Just to give you an idea here is what Luke was offered today:

Breakfast- Juice (half water/half juice), WW pancake, cut up pear
Snack- Gerber Cereal Bar, water
Lunch- 2 baked chicken nuggets, green peas, 1/2 slice of WW toast w/ unsalted butter, 1/2 slice cheddar cheese, milk
Snack- zucchini muffin, water
Supper- Egg and cheese omelet, halved grape tomatoes, 1/2 piece of toast w/ unsalted butter, 1/2 c diced fresh pineapple, milk

(**WW means whole wheat)

Here is what he actually ate:

B'fast- Juice, pancake, 3/4 pear (he always does good with breakfast!)
Snack- cereal bar, water
Lunch- maybe 1 chicken nugget, 1/2 slice of toast, cheese, milk
Snack- 2 zucchini muffins (I normally don't give him so much for a snack.. but since they are good for him!), water
Supper- a few pieces of toast and maybe half of his pineapple chunks, milk

Today was actually a pretty good day. As you can see he loves fruit... minus tomatoes. I usually offer him veggies at dinner but didn't tonight since it was a rushed night after church. And he is always offered what we are having. For instance, last night we had spaghetti. I offered him noodles with no sauce (just cheese) and he did try one.. but that was the only one.
If any wise mom's out there have any suggestions I would love them. I just keep offering the veggies praying that he will actually start eating them again. It's just a phase, right?