Quick Post Recipes!

Quick post on recipes that I was impressed with this week!

skinny cheesecake bars

I made these today, they are so yummy! If you’re looking for a dessert to take somewhere just have when you need something that tastes like it’s bad for you these are perfect! Chocolate and cheesecake, who wouldn’t want it?

grilled-chicken-cordon-bleu[1]

This was so easy and the whole family loved it.  The dijon sauce that is on top of the chicken is so good I would put it on everything!

More recipes that I have made in the past:

http://www.cookingclassy.com/2014/08/peanut-butter-fruit-dip/

Love this stuff with apples and bananas!

http://www.skinnymom.com/skinny-cincinnati-chili/

We didn’t have this for dinner this week, but it’s one of my favorites.  This is a great chili recipe, the chocolate really adds a good taste!! I even used the whole wheat noodles and I liked it!

Recipes I found and can’t wait to try!

 

http://thrivinghomeblog.com/2014/10/make-ahead-lunch-wraps/

 

http://www.domestically-speaking.com/2013/07/a-smoothie-elvis-would-love.html

http://images.media-allrecipes.com/userphotos/250×250/01/10/50/1105006.jpg

I made the salsa today and I will be using it to top my white fish, after it is broiled, for lunch and I hope to try it with the kickin chicken also!

Hope you guys have had a great weekend!

Gardening is the activity!

Gardening is one of my very favorite things to do. We choose to use the square foot gardening method. We have raised beds that are built with 1X6s. The soil, we mix 2-3 different composts (mushroom and manure), vermiculite, and peat moss. This method we have found lessens weeding and is easy to maintain the size of the plants. Also every year our soil is ready to use and the boxes weather great.

Our garden in April after planting seeds.

Every plant or seed we have used is fail-proof. Not only does gardening give me benefits of saving money on grocery bills, it keeps me active. It’s a daily activity that requires attention, keeps your mind off of being lazy or eating. I put a lot of effort into planting this garden, I should be enjoying what I have grown. What better reason

Green beans and Peppers

to eat healthy food!

Not only do we eat fresh foods out of our garden, I also can with the cucumbers, grapes, salsa, spaghetti sauce, whole tomatoes and jalapenos. I freeze corn, green peppers, zucchini, and green beans. I dry my herbs. We are still using grape jelly I canned in 2011!!

Grapevines

One thing I think about when I want to start a garden is, what I want to have on hand all the time. So I think of things I buy at the grocery store weekly. Lettuce, cucumbers, radishes, carrots (I haven’t had good luck with carrots yet, hopefully this year), this pretty much takes care of my salads for the summer. I love the salsa recipe I have used! Here is the link: Best Salsa EVER! I make sure to plant all of the ingredients I am going to need to make this recipe. With the exception of a couple of spices and the vinegar this should all come

Our garden today!

from the garden and cost next to nothing.

We have jars and jars of pickles and relish. Cucumbers are very hearty to grow and do really well here in Ohio. I had so many cucumbers last year I was searching for recipe to use cucumbers, I made cucumber jelly. Um, I would not recommend this, it tasted like jellied pickle juice. Was not tasty.

Zucchini is a wonderful vegetable. I shred it up, put it into storage bags (usually measured with 2 cups per bag) and freeze. Freezing it in the 2 cups measurement helps to be able to pull them out for batches of zucchini bread. I make bread, muffins and cakes. I have made a quiche in the past but wasn’t really impressed (though my son loved it). There are also really healthy recipes for zucchini bread this one is my favorite: Zucchini Bread. Sometimes I will make a regular recipe if I don’t have all the ingredients on hand and substitute the oil for coconut oil and cut down the sugar. Coconut oil is wonderful! I also love to put sliced zucchini in my spaghetti sauce!

Tomatoes, I usually plant a couple different kinds of tomatoes. This year I decided to go with roma and cherry. I don’t have big fans in my house with the bigger tomatoes. Because I am using them for mainly

Cherry Tomato Plant

canning, romas are best for spaghetti and salsa. I planted the cherry tomatoes because I like tomatoes and would never eat the amount that a beef or big boy tomato crop gives. For my spaghetti sauce I really just put in whatever I want. Very basic, garlic, onion, rosemary, oregano, thyme, salt, pepper and maybe a little sugar to take away the green taste of the tomato. Sometimes I have to add tomato paste to thicken.

I have lots of left over jalapenos and green peppers from last year. I use the green peppers for fajitas and stir fry. The jalapenos I throw into corn bread or poppers.

We have raspberry bushes and they are finally taking off! Very

Raspberry Bushes

excited about these! Can’t wait to make raspberry jam!

This year we planted strawberries, they take time so we won’t see a hefty crop for about 3 seasons (maybe less). I did go to a local farm last weekend and picked my own, we have 19 jars of strawberry preserves. This is not as cheap to have our own to pick, but it tastes better than store bought. Fun too! Recipe I used: Pioneer Woman.

I always plant herbs to put into my salsa and spaghetti sauce. It’s so much cheaper to plant seeds or pay the 2.50 for the plant and let it grow. The more you trim them back the more they grow. I take a handful at a time, rinse them off, wrap a rubber band around the stems and hang them upside down in my laundry room for a week to 10 days. When they are dried I crumble them up and put them in a ball jar. This works best for rosemary, oregano, thyme, basil and parsley. I have tried cilantro, but it didn’t yield as much because the leaves are so spread out, so I just use it fresh. Most of them come back every year if you treat them right. Herbs (especially fresh) can be costly.

Something new I tried this year was onions and garlic. My plan with them is to can garlic in olive oil, this is an expensive item to buy at the grocery store. The onions I will use in canning salsa and spaghetti sauce, as well as freezing in storage bags for later. Hoping they work out, so far so good!

In the past I have tried broccoli, it did good except I can’t seem to beat the worms, yuck I know. Just can’t eat something that had a worm on it. *Shivers*

Even though I live in Ohio, I have a three year old lemon tree.  We have received about 5 lemons so far, which isn’t a lot.  With fruit you have to be patient.  We have about 15 on the tree now that are very

Lemon Tree

small but have been pollinated, so hopefully this year it will be fruitful! I bring it in during winter months and keep it in the sun as much as possible.  It has been cool seeing it grow.  It was only about three branches when we bought it.

So if you’re looking for a way to be active this is a great hobby that you can eat well, save money and maybe help others by sharing.

For those who love to garden send me pics of your fabulous gardens or ideas that work for you! Also if you have any great recipes, I’d take those too! J

 

 

Habits

I have a confession:

I am a creature of habit.

I haven’t quite figured out if it’s a good thing or a bad thing as far as weight loss goes. Here’s what I came up with as far as why it’s a good thing:

I eat the same breakfast every day, mostly the same lunches, fix family dinners and cut the portions at dinner time. Why do I eat the same things? Several reasons. I know exactly how much I can have, how much it will cost at the grocery store and I know my weight will come off and stay off. I also know if I ate too much of something where my mistake was, I can make adjustments or eliminate.

I am even in habit mode when I am at the gym! Every day I have a different class, but I work out the same days every week and get in the classes that start immediately after my youngest is on the bus in the morning. The trainers that are running the class change up the routines every week so it helps make my body work a different muscle group. I know when I’ve had a rough week as far as foods go, I know exactly how hard I need to hit it.

A little more on how weird I am. In the mornings when I wake up, coffee. No if, ands or buts that is an absolute. Once my coffee is done I have a banana. Once my two oldest are off to school I have a bowl of cereal with fat free milk (yes it is in the same bowl every day, sometimes the same spoon!). I know exactly how much to fill that bowl. Now don’t judge me, after breakfast I have a Diet Mt. Dew. I know, I know caffeine. However, I decided to have this option for the extra caffeine instead of a second cup of coffee. There are no calories in the Diet Dew, there are however in coffee creamer. I cannot drink black coffee.

For lunch. I do switch up my lunch options. But I prepare them same way. If I am making my fish and brown rice it is always under the broiler. No breaded fish or cooking it in oil. I change seasonings to add flavor and keep the nutritional value. Salads I get what I like: green leafy lettuces, kidney beans (or black), carrots, cucumbers, peas, cranberries, sunflower seeds (hulled, no salt) and sometimes I add cube cheese or cubed turkey. Dressing is used cautiously. Sandwiches wheat bread (whatever lower calorie wheat you can find, sometimes I find that whole wheat has more calories) turkey and miracle whip with lettuce and tomato. Chips on the side are usually baked or serving size of whatever is on the package.

Dinners are also randomized. Again, I cycle through things I know I can control. Dinners that are on a weekly cycle: Grilled chicken, tacos, spaghetti, and I love crockpot recipes because it makes my life easier! Now most crockpot recipes require high fat cream soups. As I have said before substitute the high calorie items! The grocery stores carry a variety of low calorie options. It tastes the same as far as I can tell!

So you’re probably asking yourself, how did this woman eat the same things for the past two years? Well, my answer, I didn’t really.

Let me ask you, what are your go to foods? If you are anything like me you have your favorite snacks right? Usually the same. Or you find a new recipe you have to try, so you make it. Fast food cravings are another example of having the same foods. Just because it’s new doesn’t mean you’ll get sick of it. I had to tell myself this. I am constantly trying to find a way to make things that were unhealthy before, so I can have them now.

I was eating the same foods over and over when I was overweight too! I just changed to healthier foods. Think of the last couple of weeks of fixing and eating dinners, do you repeat from week to week on some dinners or lunches? Whenever I watch a cooking show they’ll have a comfort food theme. Well, I guess you could say this is my comfort zone. I know what meals to have for me health wise and that my family can enjoy too. Sometimes they will beg for fried chicken, well that’s one I won’t cook anymore but sometimes I will work around where we can do take out and it won’t kill my entire week.

Another one of my habits, planning for days ahead when I know I’ll be out doing things with family or have an activity planned or just want to have a cheat meal. I will make sure I am keeping true through the week with foods and workouts, be able to enjoy a treat on a Friday or Saturday night. I look forward to those small things because I earned it and the work has already been done!

I know being a creature of habit as far as this journey is concerned it has helped me keep on track. I found a time in my schedule that would not disturb my kids, responsibilities and a time where I could tell myself this is a part of my day. Maybe this would be your secret to success too.

It took me awhile to figure out when I had to have an open mind for things that will change without warning, I learned to adapt. Case in point this week my facility is closed for cleaning. I will miss three classes, so I have opened myself up to another location. I went in did my thing and went home. Even though it wasn’t the same, I just did it.

Habits like anything else good or bad. If you choose to have the same habits that have gotten you nowhere that’s where you will stay. If you develop a new habit that gets different results, then you will be different.

Thank you all for reading!  I am working on some more subject matter!  I am hoping to incorporate more about others, not just myself!

 

Goals

Along this journey there have been goals that I set and goals that I happened upon that I didn’t know I would find. The most important goal I have reached, self-acceptance. How I reached it:

When I first made the decision for this lifestyle change, I just wanted to feel better, physically. I had a lot of back pain and fatigue. I let those things hold me back from daily activities. House chores were done with minimal effort, activities with the kids would fall to my husband because I couldn’t help with sports. I couldn’t run or last very long. Did I feel guilty? Of course. Then the circle of overeating would ensue. My first goal to myself was start eating to live, not eating for pleasure. That sounds weird, but sometimes we simply eat because it just tastes so good. Eating to live is eating for the sole purpose of giving your body food for nutrition. Don’t get me wrong, not an awful diet of plants and berries. Just a healthy balance of foods that will keep you from eating junk or big portions. I cut out all the fast food, salty snacks, convenience foods (ie pizza rolls, hot pockets and snack cakes) and small unhealthy things throughout the day. Did you know skipped meals hurts weight loss? Your body is a constant working machine. It needs to have the right foods to keep it from shutting down. I also learned to recognize when my body is actually hungry.  Now that my first goal was planned, I needed to decide on exercise.

In my previous blogs I have mentioned my workouts. Of course at my heaviest weight I could only do a limited amount. I had goals in my mind of just week to week. When I first started if I made it through the first week, I was satisfied! I did it! After that is when I decided, I am going to do this for a year. My goal was to see what happened. The only limits I put on myself was I had to stick to the healthy diet and get in the gym every morning. It was simple. Not easy, but simple.

It was important for me to set goals for myself that were attainable.  I found putting a time goal in place instead of a certain amount of weight loss was easier to control, manage and keep to.  I didn’t have a reward set for the end, it was just something to reach for.  If I made my goal too hard, it would discourage me from sticking to it.

While I was on this journey reaching for the year mark, I learned a great amount about myself.  How much I enjoyed exercise and finding different foods.  It was almost like a scavenger hunt to find foods that I could eat or workouts that I wanted to try. Through trying all these new things whether it be food or fitness classes I was amazed at the changes I had already made.   It turned into something I wanted, not had to do.

When that year was up, even though I went through the entire year, I looked back and said, this is my life, this is how I want to be.  I couldn’t believe in one year I had lost 100lbs. I kept on the same trek, in the next six months another 50lbs gone.  I didn’t realize I carried that much weight, I would have never know to set a goal that high!  Myself personally, that daunting number would have scared me away the first day.

My next goal was just to take every day as it was.  No more living in the past.  Every weight loss plan that I failed at was done.  I didn’t have to do them again because I found what worked for me.  Am I considered skinny, I don’t know and don’t care.  I am who I am because I am happy this way.  Sure there are things I want to change, if they change great if not, I am not in any pain due to weight issues and I can pretty much do anything.

If you are looking to start a weigh loss journey, try setting goals that are fair to you.  Not easy, but something that you are happy to work toward.  We all know how difficult it is to follow something that’s not in our heart.  What matters most is you live every day happy with your progress.  Weight loss doesn’t have to be miserable.  Keep confidence in yourself to keep going.  As I said some goals I didn’t set for myself, they just naturally happen.  Often times I wouldn’t realize the milestone until after it happened.

 

 

My Childhood

 

My son wanted me to write about my childhood. So Colby, this is who I was.

I am an only child. I grew up as the only grandchild on both sides of my mom and dad’s family (I have a younger cousin now, he is 6). My mom’s sister and brother were also like my own siblings. They are 11 and 9 years older than me. I grew up with so much love and support, I still have that from them today. As an infant I was a pretty sick baby from what I understand. I was diagnosed with asthma and they had me on a bunch of steroids at 8 months old. My mom and dad did the best they could with what the doctors were saying, not many options back then. I was very blessed from the beginning with the parents I have.

Through elementary school I was the typical girl, chased boys on the playground, protected my friends who were picked on and really tried to pay attention in class but it just wasn’t my thing. I was a string bean until I entered the 4^th grade. I started to slowing develop into a girl. I had to go weekly to get shots for my allergies. I remember I got 7 per week. They must have worked because eventually allergies became easier to deal with.

I hardly ever got into trouble, there was never anyone to fight with. I was content to just play on my own. As an only child one would think I was spoiled, not me. My parents worked very hard to provide for us. At times my mom would take on a second job to make ends meet. If there was a toy or something I wanted birthdays and holidays were usually when I would receive it. I spent a lot of time at my grandma’s in the evenings because my dad worked different schedules and my mom would be at a second job. I loved it at my grandparents, dinner with them in the evening and if I was there on the weekend my papa would take me around the lake (Lake Michigan) and to his office to talk with friends. Thursday nights I went grocery shopping with my grandma. Sometimes we would go to the Globe clothing store next door and
she would try on shoes. They were so ugly, but it was the style.

In the summers we would take trips to the cabin in North Eastern Wisconsin. My papa built a cabin on the lake back in the 1960s. We would fish, swim, boat ride and pick blackberries. Evenings were card games and fires on the shore. I usually had three weeks a year there. Eventually when they retired they would spend the entire summers there. I would get bored, but I sure would take some of that time with them now.

The year I would be moving up to 5^th grade we moved away from all my childhood friends. Ugh. Very rough. My mom decided to try to get me into a private school, however I didn’t pass the entrance exam. They informed her that I had a reading comprehension problem and was only reading at a 3^rd grade level. This started a downward spiral of my self- esteem. In addition to developing early for a girl, I now felt dumb. I was placed into a public school system, I had to go to a tutor for math and reading during a half hour of my day. She really helped me a long. I still wasn’t up to a good student, but I did better. My social status however was horrible. Being new, tall and considered dumb was awful. I was teased because everyone thought I was overweight. I look at pictures of myself from back then, I didn’t think I was overweight. I have always been tall for a girl, but I didn’t think I was what they were accusing me of. I was always picked on. Boys were so very mean. Girls were friends one day and not the next. I was quiet anyway but this made me even more so because I felt like if I acted invisible they would forget I was there. I did have a few friends, it wasn’t all bad. I sure wish I had that little girl back in me at that time, I should have kicked their butts! I was also expected to be independent for myself. I had to get up get myself ready for school, pack my lunch and walk to school. When I would come home I would have to stay in the house until my parents came home. Nobody in, nobody out my mom would say. We lived in a safe neighborhood, however my parents wanted to make sure no one was hurt or anything broken in their home without an adult there.

Anyway, so 5^th-8^th grade were hard years. The friends I had were always on again off again. It’s the same for my kids today, never know what drama will be drawn up! My parents made the decision again to get me into a private school. Again starting over in a new school was nerve wrecking, but not as bad as the first time. I had great teachers and they made me excited to learn. My reading problems and math issues were conquered for the most part. I always enjoyed reading but now I was taught how to read for the purpose of study. My grades had really turned around. English was my best subject. I loved to write and express my interpretations on novels we read. Still hated math, but I made it through. My high school didn’t have very many options in electives. Choir, band and foreign languages. I had choir. It was okay. I was too shy to do anything other than just sing with the group. I decided to join volleyball, I had never played before. It was so hard. Everyone on the team was better than me, so I worked hard, enrolled in volleyball camps in the off season and summer. I got better! I still had insecurities but I did have friends, my Sophomore year was the best year. Things really turned around for me. I made friends whom I felt were just like me. We didn’t care how each other looked and we had fun where ever we went. I also was in pretty good shape and lost weight due to my mom cooking healthy, joining weight watchers with her and volleyball. I was at this point, the same as every girl in high school at 16. I have never been a rail thin person, after all this weight I have lost I still have hips and my thighs are bigger than I’d like. Anyway, I think everyone has the same thoughts and issues. I got the best job that summer too. I worked at Six Flags on a roller coaster. Best summer ever. I had a driver’s license, my parents bought me a car (I loved that little car), a job so I could afford to drive my car. I met tons of people, made a lot money because that was all I did that summer! Besides go to the after work parties and my friends and I would spend the days off at the park riding all the rides. I was able to get in free because I worked there. My friends that didn’t would get in for a dollar! I worked there for 2 summers and then I got a job at the mall in clothing stores. I didn’t enjoy these jobs as much, but I had to pay for my car and insurance so I worked.

Junior and Senior year was the time I had to start really thinking about what I wanted to do when high school was over. I really liked working with kids. I talked with my guidance counselor and they had a preschool in the basement of the high school. I was able to go in my free study hall and sit in on an activity with the pre-K and kindergarten class. I decided I wanted to be an early elementary teacher. I had many opportunities in my Senior year with the free study and for religion we volunteered our Christmas break at local schools and facilities. Kids were so funny to me and I loved being able to watch their eyes light up when you taught them something.

 

I graduated (biggest relief of my life). My grades and desire (and money) were not up to par for universities. So I decided to take classes at the community college. I was sure I was going into elementary education. I took some basic classes: math, English and a class on elementary education. This woman was a current teacher for 3^rd and 4^th graders. She completely changed my perspective. She told each one of us, please make sure this is the career you are choosing. It’s not just teaching kids that is your job. You work for parents, school boards, other teachers and you have teach the way they tell you to. She suggested getting as much experience as possible in the field that didn’t require a degree. So that’s what I set off to do. I worked at daycares. During that year I met my husband, we had mutual friends. He was in town and my friend encouraged me to go out with them to meet. So I did. Well, there went my college career, I didn’t have the attention for it anymore. I finished my year and didn’t enroll again. I spent most of my time working at a daycare and with my man.

We got engaged 4 months from the day we met. It was fast because he lived in Ohio and I was in Illinois. My husband would make a trip every weekend or every two weeks to be with me. We were married about 11 months later. I moved to Ohio. Left all my family behind. My parents moved after I was here for a year. We started having kids 5 years later. I may not have become a teacher, but I sure am doing what I was meant too..   I had a happy and very loved childhood.  I have worked really hard to show my parents they have raised the person they hoped I would be.  I try every day to do the same for my kids.  So far, my kids have made me so proud.  You never really understand the love between parents and children until you have your own.  It’s the unselfish kind of love.  Wouldn’t we like to bottle that stuff and just be able to be like that to everyone? What a happy place this would be!

I wrote this one for my son, he wanted to know what I was like as a child. In short I think I was just like every other girl.  We have insecurities, fears, dreams and accomplishments.  In a way I am still the same as I was in the past, I can kind of be reserved.  As an adult watching your kids grow up you see them go through same issues and situations that you did.  I wouldn’t change anything about my life back then.  As I said, I had a loving family, people who provided the best for me.  If it’s one thing I want to teach my kids, be comfortable with who you are.  No one should tell you have to be a size, personality or not be a certain way.  The only person you have to please is yourself.  You make your past, your future and your right now.  Take it!