Archive | January, 2012

Weekly weigh-in

31 Jan

Well team, the first week of fitness and health has come to an end. Actually, it was yesterday, but I was enjoying a small victory too much to share with you. The marks are in and here are the results: 4 pounds.

Now, thats no “Biggest Loser” kind of weight to lose, and to be honest, I didn’t give it my best, but 4 pounds is a great start to a lifestyle change.

My focus for this week is: make time for myself. As a currently unemployed person with a lot of time on their hands, I should have tons of time to go to the gym. In reality though, the last thing I want to do after spending my time alone all day is go to the gym around the same time my husband comes home from school (I’d rather talk his ear off). But, I know that I need to give up my time and focus it into the gym so I can get the results I want. Remember: sacrifice is giving up something you love (free time) for something you love more (long, healthy life).

I’m also planning and making meals ahead of time so there’s no excuse to eat out or not go to the gym because I have to prepare dinner. It makes a huge difference, let me tell you.

 

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Weekly Menu: From Bread to No Bread

26 Jan

A healthier menu...

So here we are, week one of the workout-a-palooza slash gettin healthy lifestyle change for 2012. Yes, I am dreaming of bread right now as I write this post, and my friend Amanda is eating PIZZA, how dare she! But to her defense, she’s eating a slice for me per my request.

This week’s menu is a little from last week when we broke and got Indian food as a last hurrah and a little boring, but hey, we’re trying to lose weight here! I made the main two dishes of the week ahead of time so we could just portion them out and eat em without thinking too much about what we’d like but cannot have for dinner, ehem: pasta, bread, cheese, chocolate.

Curried Carrot Soup: I doctor up my recipe from a Martha Stewart recipe which I will share with a yummy picture tomorrow. I promise.

Hungarian Beef Goulash: I use the EatingWell version of this recipe which is served over whole wheat egg noodles. The recipe was pretty bland so we added a load of garlic and some other yummy spices.  Recipe trier beware, this is pretty soupy, I added triple the amount of corn starch. 180 calories without the noodles.

Turkey apple panini: my own recipe using Denise’s Chipotle BBQ rub which you can find here with 3 slices of turkey and a thin layer of apples with a wedge of laughing cow swiss cheese. (Psst: you don’t have to butter the bread, use a cooking spray to lightly spray your bread for 0 calories of toastiness)

Chix and Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing: It’s pretty easy, marinade some chicken breasts, throw on grill (yes I know it’s the middle of winter, it’s been mild here) or in the oven, cut up 4 oz (portion control!) and drizzle some sweet poppy seed dressing over it. Oh yeah, I’m not talking about the fatty kind of dressing, I’m talking a lightened up and in-my-humble-opinion tastier version of Brianna’s poppy seed dressing (recipe here). I throw a few dried cranberries and some homemade croutons on there as well and enjoy the leafy green fiesta. More on the croutons later. 

Stuff that failed this week: 

Tried to make Weight Watchers naan recipe for my soup. The dough never rose, which I think was due to my extremely expired baking powder, or the fact that its supposed to be in a warm place and our home thermostat is set at a cozy 56 degrees.

The verdict:

I’m not gonna lie, I got bored with only having a few options on hand this week, but having everything pre-cooked was amazing because I couldn’t complain that dinner wasn’t ready on time.  I just keep telling myself, I eat to stay alive, I don’t live to eat…(repeat several times as you pass by the fresh bread at the bakery).

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Brand New Day

26 Jan

Hello, friends. You’re talking to a new woman today. That’s right, everyday I get to begin at choosing the life I want to live again. It’s not a dress rehearsal, you know. Well anyway, I wanted to chat today about my goal to tighten my belt in 2012. Yes, that means weightloss. This week started the journey (again) in which I endeavor to lose weight. I know it can be done because I’ve done it before (3x) and I’ve been yo-yo-ing for a year now around a number I’d love to say goodbye to.  So here goes…

This is not easy for me to share, but I’ve struggled with this my entire life and I’m through with it now. I really don’t care what other people think of me anymore, but I do care about my body because it is a temple and I should treat it as such. I know I’ve gotta have a plan for the weightloss time and the life after weightloss time. That means I can’t just lose the weight and then throw everything to the wind and pray that I won’t gain it back, I have to change my mind (see love inspired life for more on that).

Food has always been an idol to me, in the fact that I put it on a pedestal in my life. I need to stop living to eat and start eating to live in a way that keeps me healthy and puts off the obsession of food. I used to eat to calm my feelings, it made everything “better” or so I thought, and I felt “happy” after I ate something uber-good. I know now that that type of eating habit is the result of a sickness in the way I think and I need to change it.

So here’s the plan.

Burn more calories: I will need to workout to reach my calorie expenditure every day so I know how much I’m losing and it gives me a goal to reach to. I plan on working out 5-8 times a week (twice on Mon and Wed and once on Tues, Thurs, Friday and Sunday), 3 of those times with my workout group 6AM!! and the other times being at the gym doing a class or jogging with the dog.

Post here: peer pressure works, so I’m going social with my weight loss plan. I extremely dislike being this public, but I know it will keep me reliable.

Eat less calories and better foods: I’m cutting a lot of the processed mumbo jumbo (no lean cuisines either!) and going for home-cooked, balanced meals that fit the calorie bill of 1,200-1,400 calories per day.

Start thinking like a champ: I know I can’t do this on my own so I’m starting some spiritual warfare too. God only gives us temptations that we can prevail from, and I’m using my strength in Him to keep me going. Plus, I’m examining why I think about foods the way I do so I can change my mind.

Drinking more water. Our trainers at the gym say that you should only drink 64 ounces of water if you are a 128 lb. person. That is, the more you weigh and the more you expend liquid (i.e. sweat from workout) the more you should drink. That breaks down into the simple rule of drinking half your body weight. It’s gonna be tough for this cactus, but I’m gonna have to turn into a camel. Plus, drinking water keeps you less hungry.

Our pastor once told the congregation that the definition of sacrifice is giving up something you love, for something you love more. I think this is the perfect mantra for anyone who wants to change something in their life. I love my freetime to read and surf the web, but I love myself more. I love spending time at home when I’ve been at work all day, but I love myself more than just sitting around when I have this goal. I love creating culinary masterpieces (that might not be too healthy) but I love myself more. You fill in the blank:

I love _______ , but I love _____ more!

Update: Chris just popped in and said that he’s excited for this post, that he’ll actually read the blog now :) and that his word of advice for weight loss is to use what you could be six months from now as motivation for where you are today. In other words, every action you do should be questioned by

“is this helping me reach my goal?“

Speaking of, goals, I just want to be healthier and treat my body as a temple. Every day is a new day and I’m grateful that everyday I get to choose to live a healthy life. It’s not a target weight and any weightloss is better than none, but I’ll be sure to keep you updated every week whether my forearms are aching from body combat as I type or not.

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Mom advice: conditioner for your legs

20 Jan

This is a new subject I want to call mom advice because it reaches the gambit between “don’t bite your nails, its not ladylike” to “have you tried using this to get that stain out” and beyond. While my mom was taken away at a young age, I am blessed with a surrogate mother, my stepmom (stepdad’s new wife) Denise and my mother-in-law Amy. They have such great advice! I’m taking advice from other moms out there as well and have compiled a few tips, a few tricks and a few odd gems to share with you throughout the weeks. So, without further ado, this is post one of Mom Advice, and it is a doozy.

I was recently on an impromptu Target run with my friend Traci when I was showing her some of the products I like in the grooming aisles. When you are starved for friends, you make friends fast and that is what Traci and I are, fast friends who happen to have much in common (i.e. sims obsession, pinterest obsession, both very short, etc.). We happened upon the endless choices of shaving cream and I happened to mention that a certain someone in our house always forgets to put his shaving cream away and it leaves a nasty ring in the tub, and also how I hate that sometimes the cartridge goes before all the shaving cream has been used up. Traci then shared a little advice that her mom told her as a young girl, “My mom always used conditioner for her legs and I do too”. I was taken aback. Double usage out of something for your hair on your head??? This needed testing.

Use cheap conditioner - your legs don't need salon quality products.

I had the opportunity while in a bind on a visit back to the good life state of Nebraska to test this out. And…drumroll please……IT WORKS! No longer will I have to buy shaving cream and worry about rust rings or running out. I’m getting a cheap conditioner (my legs don’t get pampered with salon conditioner like my hair does) and saying sienara to the foamy blue mess of overpriced gel. Depending on how much you use, it might even last longer and cost less than your specialty leg products.

Mom advice, gotta love it and take it whether you want to or not. In the end you know she’s right!

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Sunshine: Smiley Dog

18 Jan

Are you ready for this? Every time I see this picture I hyperventilate because This dog is SO cute! I just had to share…(source)

Smiley dog :)

Doesn’t this just brighten your day?

Weekly Menu- carrots, tots and chickpeas, oh my!

17 Jan

Every week (usually on a friday) I create our weekly menu and a grocery list so we make one fell swoop of food purchases for the week. In an ideal world that means we don’t have to go to the grocery store unless someone consumes something they aren’t supposed to, or the other someone forgets to check the pantry as she is making the list.

Any who, this week our better-late-than-never weekly menu includes:

  • Moroccan chickpeas and couscous
  • Asian stir-fry from leftover birthday steak
  • Tater tot casserole gone rogue
  • Curried carrot soup (extremely healthy and tasty)
  • Grilled tomato and turkey panini (recipe here)
  • and the ever popular money-saver breakfast for dinner for that night I just don’t feel like cooking.

What? Ok, I got lazy this week and we’re trying to cut back on the $ spent at Wegmans. So I threw in a breakfast here and an easy soup there, its all about uncomplicating life and not living to eat, but eating to live.

Be on the lookout for updates as to recipes, pictures, etc.

What’s on your menu for this week?

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Birthday meal and other thoughts

17 Jan

Sorry for the delay. Husband had a birthday and I was busy planning and prepping (and procrastinating). Nothing like a celebratory birthday meal for the big two-four. I’m not even sure what happens when you are 24, probably nothing. Here’s to next year and lower car insurance and being able to rent a car at normal prices, honey!

So for Chris’ birthday extravaganza I focused in on his favorite things: meat, cheese, bread and potatoes. Lets call it healthy to make us feel better.

Menu:

  • Grilled tri-tip steak (recipe for marinade here)
  • Roasted garlic cheesy mashed potatoes
  • Roasted thyme-y carrots
  • Cheesy biscuits! (you know, the ones from red lobster), copy-cat recipe here

And for the cake: Angel food cake, recipe here.

Lets do a play by play of the meal.

Steak: not my problem, Chris is the grill master. He marinated it, wrangled it and had it on the table in time for dinner. I got this beast on sale for 11.54 down from 17.50 and stuffed it in the freezer a month back. It was a good chunk, but as for weight I cannot say. Want to pinch your pennies?  Buy it on sale and freeze it. No one needs to pay full price for steak and the freezer does not hurt it in my opinion.

Roasted mashed potatoes: I don’t use a recipe, I don’t even peel the red potatoes, they go in the pot skins and all. I boil the potatoes in water that tastes like the Atlantic Ocean its so full of salt until they are fork tender. then I mash after draining and add cream or whole milk, butter, sour cream (or in our case Greek yogurt since someone was silly and didn’t put sour cream on the grocery list), cheese of choice (Gorgonzola is amazing but cheddar or mozzarella will work), dollop of minced garlic to taste, S and P to taste and all to consistency you like.

Roasted thyme-y carrots: Yum! Cook carrot medallions in a dollop o butter in a saucepan, add thyme, salt and a dash of red pepper flakes. Rosemary also works well. Cook through.

Cheesy Biscuits! Why does this require an exclamation point you ask? Have you tried a cheesy biscuit from your local red lobster? They are morsels of cheesy goodness. Not at all the picture of health, but hey, in moderation they are fine. I’m starting to sound like Paula Deen in this post.

What a great meal! We ate really, really healthy food for the few days after the meal and I wouldn’t recommend eating this every day, but for my sweet husband who loves his cheese, potatoes and steak I had to cook something special.

Birthday cake. What’s that you say? Not willing to share, yet. Let’s just say I need to defend my housewifey honor here.  Maybe later….

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Re-purposed Meaty Pasta Sauce = Open Faced Meaty Marinara Sandwich

10 Jan Open-faced meaty marinara sandwich-- Watch your broiler! Ours crisped the edges a little too much.

Ok, so the other day was a stressful one, and I broke. I was hungry and stressed, so I went into the kitchen in a satiated daze and before I knew what I was doing, I made pasta. Thankfully I had only made enough pasta for one meal (in the olden days we made enough to last for a few meals between the 2 of us). However, what was leftover was a small container of meaty marinara sauce that I had thrown together with onions and the source-of-all-goodness…garlic.

leftover meaty marinara sauce from a pasta dinner

Lunchtime rolled around the next day and I was craving Subway. But, if you remember our mandatory goal post, we said we weren’t eating out. Instead I opened the fridge and stared into it’s frosty abyss. What could we eat?  Bread. I need bread! Protein, I need protein! Hello mozzarella, you’re looking mighty fine today… and that’s how it happened. What came about was a no-brainer that made me wonder why I hadn’t thought of it before. It’s my hack on the meatball marinara made with our leftover sauce and open-face style (c’mon we’re cutting calories here!).

 

So here’s what we did

  1. Turn on the broiler (it’s that bottom drawer on some people’s ovens that they usually store stuff in).
  2. Heat up your meaty marinara sauce. Ours was chalk-full of beef so it was pretty substantial, but for my vegetarian friends, you could just do marinara with onions, garlic and other spices.
  3. Lightly toast your bread if it never seems to toast right in your broiler
  4. Spread a dollop or two of sauce onto your slice
  5. Sprinkle with mozzarella (ours was part-skim so it wasn’t too bad for you). Chris got a generous helping because otherwise he complains that there’s not enough cheese. Trust me– there will never be enough cheese.
  6. Scoot it into the broiler and watch carefully. BEWARE- the broiler burns things quickly. See our picture? I waited 30 seconds too long. My apologies for the “crisped” edges, but it still tasted yummy.
  7. Enjoy.

Open-faced meaty marinara sandwich-- Watch your broiler! Ours crisped the edges a little too much.

Ok, it wasn’t the healthiest thing we’ve prepared this year to align with our goals, however we ate it with a salad and some fruit. Moderation is key, and hey! I had to get rid of that extra sauce.

Bread and cheese are always welcome in my book, so the result was something that was tasty and warm and satisfied our hunger all in one. It only took a few minutes too!

Here’s to trying new things with leftovers in the new year! Do you have any quick fixes for your leftovers? Tell us in a comment!

 

 

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Mandatory 2012 Goals Post

6 Jan

Ok, I know what you are thinking. Resolutions? Who cares?  They are usually broken by the time February rolls around anyway. Keep in mind though I did say goal not resolution (there is a difference). Well, I’ve decided to write ‘em down in order to be held accountable.

2012 theme: Decluttering for prosperity and happiness

So, here they are:

Eat out less, eat in more. Face it, we LOVE going out to eat, but its just not in the budget to do so once or twice a month. Plus, we’d like to try our hand at making some of our favorite dishes ourselves. For January, we’re trying to eat out only once. Here’s to trying (says prayer for follow through in head). What does this mean for you readers? Plenty ‘o food-filled posts (suggestions are welcome).

Budget!  It’s simple. Everyone should have AND stick to a budget. We started tracking our spending on mint.com and were appalled at how some of those pennies were spent wasted. Look for us to be sharing the creative ways we cut down on spending (think date night ideas, diy cleaning and financial tips).

Declutter. Our lives are so cluttered with stuff. We’re trying to simplify life by decluttering in general. Whether its the junk drawer, junk we buy or how much time we waste watching TV you can expect us to be sharing simple ways that we spend our time and organize our life.

Wisen up, kid! C’mon, you know Jersey Shore or in my case an Iron Chef marathon on the weekends aren’t lighting up your brain cells. So, we’ve decided to learn, experience and grow in BIG ways this year. We’ll be sharing book/recipe reviews, DIYs that we try, and activities that we do to keep sharp and not be glued to the tube.

Tighten the belts. Yeah, I know we already talked about money. But we’d also literally love to start being able to tighten our real belts (you know, the kind that go around your waist). I feel like this is a little cliche. Everybody does this. But I’m telling you, this is OUR year. We’re not going back. You may see less cheese in our recipes (to Chris’ horror) or…bread (cue dramatic music), and more veggies/fruits and lean meats. We’ll try to set a good example for a healthy lifestyle.

Lastly, a commitment. How is anyone supposed to expect readership from a blog that posts as sporadically as this one? I’m not sure. I’m dedicated to sticking to it, although you may have to remind me.

This year is going to be one of major change and growth. We hope you’ll join us for the ride.

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