Friday Link Up!

I thought I'd share a few links with you on this HOT as hades Friday! Seriously, turn on the AC and just relax today. Or, if you have a pool, go to jump in. Otherwise, don't even go outside. Ninety-four degrees in the shade. Yep, it's summer time in Alabama.

1. Speaking of summertime... it's time for some fun summertime parties. I haven't shared anything about Luke's big day but I will save that for a post all in itself. If you're looking for a yummy summer dessert that is healthy for you, check out this recipe for Healthy Strawberry Shortcake. I haven't tried it yet but I'm definitely going to! (ie, healthy in my book = natural sugars, real fat milk/butter/eggs, whole grains)

2. Check out my Baby Weight blog to see how I did this week with my 30 Day Shred in 60 Days.
3. Most of you know about sweet Cassidy who was in a horrible 4 wheeler wreck a few weeks ago. I keep everyone updated on Facebook about her progress and how we can pray specifically for her. But I also wanted to share her Caring Bridge site. You can read all of the recent updates in her journal, see pictures of her beautiful face and read/sign her guestbook. If you're someone who has been praying for her, I encourage you to sign the guestbook and let the family know you are praying. I know they would love to hear of those who are praying for their daughter, even those who don't know them personally and be so encouraged by it. You do have to create a Caring Bridge account but it's as easy as entering your email address and creating a password. Her site is:

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/cassidyestes1

And for those of you out there who don't know about this story, please add Cassidy to your prayer list! I know God is working a miracle!

4. Something you may not know about me: I am super passionate about car seats and car seat safety! So when I read this article, I was THRILLED! I have been convinced for some time that rear facing your children in their car seat until they reach the height and weight limit is safest. I have read studies and articles... watched videos and crash tests. I was hands down sure that rear facing for as long as you can is best and safest for your children. When I read this article and saw that, "The American Academy of Pediatrics and many child-passenger safety advocates have expanded their recommendations to suggest that infants and young children remain rear-facing up to the maximum height or weight limits of their car seats", I was like, FINALLY! I've heard so many pediatricians say it's ok and even advise parents that their patients be turned around a one year and 20 lbs (AL Law). I just cringe when I hear that. It's legal to smoke at 19 too, but I don't think it's a good idea to go out and by your teenager a pack of smokes on their 19th birthday. Eli's car seat rear faces up to 35 lbs, so we have a while.. I mean like probably until he's 3! Luke didn't pass 35 pounds until after he turned 3! But you do have to make sure that the car seat fits properly at the shoulders, too. There are so many things we, as parents, can't prevent. But we can do what we can, when presented with valuable, correct advice to keep our children safe as possible. I don't consider it being over-protective, when there is legitimate evidence stating (not to mention the new AAP recommendation) that your child is safest in a crash rear facing. So, keep those babies rear facing.. and if you've turned them forward facing but they are under the RF requirements... turn them back. It doesn't take long! I just want your babies to be safe!

5. Ladies, if you have ever had anything waxed you know how painful it can be. I found this video from a link the other night and laughed until I cried. It is so funny! This is one brave woman to actually do this on video. Her face is hilarious! And she should have read the instructions first!!! If you need a laugh go watch it!

Have a good weekend!

30 Day Shred in 60 Days!

Well, it's time to get back on the saddle. Bahaha. I never say things like that but when I start to write a blog post all of those types of sayings come to mind. Seriously though, I have not exercised in TWO MONTHS! What in the world? The boys and I got sick and I just never got back into the routine. And although I haven't gained any weight, I just feel yuck. So, yesterday I started back doing the Shred. Instead of taking up space here I'm going to be doing a 2 month challenge over at my other blog. So, see you there:

Baby Weight

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!

Weight Update

Well, I weighed in Friday morning and I had not lost or gained. I was hoping for a loss but I think that my little exercise the previous two weeks just caught up with me. I'm glad I didn't gain though! I did get in three days of exercise last week which was a lot better than the two previous weeks. So, hopefully if I stay on track eating and exercising I will have a loss this coming Friday. I am still keeping a food journal on my other blog. I think the biggest thing that I'm learning through this is that I need to consume more fruits and veggies and stay far away from cookies. It would be ideal if I could put down the cookie for a banana... But that often doesn't happen. I need to work on that. Or maybe I just need to start making half batches of cookies when I bake, so that there aren't as many around! The cookies & brownies we had in the house last week were from our home Bible study that we hosted, so this week there won't be any here!

As far as 'watching what I eat', I'm not counting calories anymore. Well, at least not for everything I eat. Occasionally I'll figure up a recipe or look something up online just to make sure I'm not going totally overboard! I'm really just trying to eat generally healthy meals and really watch my portions. I still measure things like cereal (and milk for my cereal), mayo for sandwiches and salad dressing, cheese, ect for salads. Many people think that eating a salad is healthy, and it is... but not if you pile on the cheese, croutons, nuts and fatty dressing. Moderation is key! Speaking of meals, I'm off to make my menu for the next two weeks. It will hopefully be up tomorrow morning! And I have a few recipe reviews too!

Weighing In - 3/15

Quick weigh in post and a little update... I'm so tired!!


So, I weighed in Friday morning, like usual, and lost 1 lb. I'm thankful for the loss but I'm ready for another 3 lb week! I'm hoping that my Twenty One Day Challenge will help me get there! I really need to work hard at getting my exercise in too. I only got in one day last week. I try to not put too much pressure on myself or beat myself up because it is hard to fit it in sometimes. We had a busy week last week, too! Exercise is usually not very high on my priority when compared with my relationship with Jesus, my husband and my kids! The hubs is on spring break this week and if the weather is nice I'm hoping we can go on a few family walks in the afternoons!

We have Eli's tubes check up tomorrow with the ENT. He's been batting at his ears and I'm just curious if this is normal. He's never been one to mess with his ears much, even if his ears were infected. He's also still not sleeping great. Sigh. Another reason why it's hard for me to get up extra early and exercise. I guess I just thought that his bad sleeping habits would be miraculously cured after the tubes. Wrong. We haven't had a horrible night where the Hubs ends up on the couch.. but there have been several nights when I've been up with him two and three times.. totaling 2-3 hours. It's draining. I wonder.. is he hurting?? Are his teeth bothering him.. or his ears??? Or does he just not sleep well? I don't know. I'm just praying that God will help him, whatever it is.

Speaking of sleep.. that's where I'm headed! Praying for a good night!

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