Simply Saturday

Saturday May 23rd : Weight 206.4# 1.6# Loss 1290 Calories
Morning: Started the day off with a Ginger/Parsley/Honey/Lemon Juice/Pineapple juice drink,
Breakfast: Oatmeal, peanut butter, banana for breakfast, it was really yummy!
Snack: Apple
Lunch: Thai Peanut/Chicken/Bell Pepper Wrap
Dinner: Chicken Fajitas
Snack: 100 Calorie Popcorn
Exercise: 45 Min Walk w/dog
Water: Drank it all

Recipe:
Thai Peanut Chicken Wrap
2 tsp peanut butter
2 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp honey
2 oz cooked chicken breast, cubed (I seasoned mine with Garlic, Onion Powder & Seasoned Salt)
1 cup red bell peppers, sliced
1 whole-grain tortilla

Blend Peanut butter, 2 tsp water, soy sauce and honey until smooth. Mix peanut sauce with chicken and peppers, and wrap in a tortilla.

Today was saturday, and I LOVE working on Saturdays, why you might ask? Because my day is cut 4 hours shorter than my normal as I only work 9am-4pm and things are generally a tad bit slower on saturdays so I am able to get some 'busy work' and tedious tasks done. Today I did doggie daycare and it was fun, we have a lot of dogs boarding this weekend:
Saturday we had 6 standard poodles in doggie daycare, 1 golden retriever, 1 Bernese Mountain Dog, 2 German Shepherds. In little dogs we had 2 schnauzers, 2 jack russels, 1 shih tzu and 2 chihuahuas. Just about EVERY noisy dog that ever boards with us is there this weekend, the only quiet ones were 4 of the standard poodles, the bernese mtn dog (only noisy for attention) and the chihuahus. So you can imagine the headache I endured :) But I like it when we have a lot of dogs as there are more playful ones there and they can 'entertain' themselves easier....i.e..find someone to wrestle with.

We have a client who for the past 7 years has 'blended' her dogs food up and frozen it into individual servings. It's a german shepherd and she has something called Megaeosophogus so she can't swallow properly. She is a little skinny but doing amazingly well for her condition, most don't live this long at all. She's such a good girl, she stands on her hind legs on a counter to 'lap' up her liquid food mix, then after she eats she has to stand for 20 minutes on a chair to help gravity. She is so good she stands there for the entire time....you might ask while I'm telling you this....because It made me realize that preparation is the key.

I try to make my meals the night before, well at least when I work I make my breakfasts/dinners as it makes it so much easier in the mornings, and I have less chance of not taking something healthy. If I'm running late, I don't have to worry about not having time to make up my meals n snacks if I prepare them ahead of time. What do you do to prepare yourself to eat healthy?

Slimming Green Smoothie Recipe

Here is the recipe for the "Slimming Green Smoothie Recipe" it is pretty good, if you aren't used to 'veggie' drinks it's a little different at first, but I really enjoy it.
**Added: this recipe came from the "All You" Magazine from Walmart, it's the June issue that's pink with Lemonade on the cover**

Green Honey Ginger Drink
1 Cup fresh flat-leaf parsley (leaves and stems)
1/4 cup pineapple (fresh, frozen, or canned; no sugar added)
2 tsp honey
1 inch fresh ginger peeled and grated
1 T fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup water
***Am Loving Rob's little cute blender we got him, it's a small basically just one-two serving size blender perfect for smoothies and drinks. I LOVE it! Makes it easy, and I HATE the noise of regular blenders, I plug my ears LOL!

Ooh...I did not know this:
Slimming perks: Pineapple contains bromelain, an enzyme that dissolves lymphatic toxins to smooth away fatty pockets in the belly and thighs. Plus, bromelain neutralizes bradykinins, polypeptides that promote fat storage in the lower body.

I look forward to it every morning. Was wondering if anyone knows if it would hurt to keep it up after the 7 days? It doesn't really say anything in the magazine article. Oooh, I've read this article about a dozen times and have MISSED a crucial step:
1- Start each day with a special drink (Green Honey Ginger Drink) and END each day with a cup of peppermint tea (I missed this step! MMMM gonna go make me a cup, love my herbal teas).
2- Then basically stick to 1200 calories it has a lot of 'healthful' fats in it so it is more filling than typical diet plans (nuts, avocados, olive oil)
3- Get 30 Minutes of Moderate Exercise in.

It also suggests when you have cravings to have peppermint tea. It's weird but this REALLY has helped me. I add a little splenda and calorie free!

Chicken Dijon Recipe

This is one of Rob's favorite recipes. We have it quite a bit in the summer when we can grill it on the barbeque. We prefer Basil on it, and watch the salt content in the mustard or it can come out really really salty.

From: Lean For Life Website
Makes: 4 servings
Prep time: 00:05:00
Ingredients:
	4 Chicken Breasts 4 Tbs Dijon Mustard 2 Tbs water 2 tsp garlic powder 2 tsp Marjoram or Basil
Instructions:
	Mix Seasonings, Marinade Chicken Breasts for at least 2-3 hours Cook on the grill or in the oven until done.
Items Needed:
	Chicken Breasts Dijon Mustard water garlic powder Marjoram or Basil

Sizzling for Summer Week 2 Challenge Healthy Recipe

One of my favorite comfort meals is cream of mushroom soup with chicken over rice. Since I am on low carb diet, I missed the rice. Until I found a recipe for Cauliflowerd Rice http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/lowcarbsidedishes/r/caulirice.htm

So here's how I make it:
4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts cooked and shredded (I season with Garlic & Onion Powder, and Seasoned Salt)
2 Cans Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 Can of Cream of Chicken Soup
1/2 empty soup can of Sour Cream

Cook the chicken & shred, add soup & sour cream, mix all together. Serve over rice or noodles....or low carbers cauliflowered Rice :)

***Added as I use the 97% or 98% fat free soups so that cuts back on fat :)

Happy Easter!

The Jelly Bean Prayer

I really have always loved this! Anyways I hope you all had a great Easter. Rob and I got some sort of food poisoning and spent the majority of the day in the bathroom, I guess as a bonus, it means that since everything was passing straight through...I didn't gain weight :) My family has a dinner almost every major holiday, I had taken some immodium and felt well enough to go, although hindsight 20/20 probably should have stayed home. Rob stayed home. My sister put about $60.00 in many different plastic easter eggs around my parents front yard, we only had 2 Grandkids there, one is 3& 1/2 the other I believe is 2, they had a blast. Then we had dinner, (see below) it was really good. My mom made a 5 Minute Key Lime Pie and boy was it yummy! It used 'low' fat Jello, Yogurt and Whipped Topping, and I ate it without the crust so that helped cut back on the carbs. It was SO good. Here's the recipe: Recipe for 5 Minute Key Lime Pie

April 12^th Weight Loss Day #6

B: 2 Hot Dog Links, Apple Actual: 2 Bratwursts, Chili, Onions, Cheese
L: See Above
D: Ham, Cheesy Taters (Funeral Potatoes), Green Bean Casserole, Roll, Key Lime Pie Dessert (Low fat)
Snacks: Cheese Sticks, Hard Boiled Eggs x2, 1 Chocolate Caramel Egg, 2 Peanut Butter Eggs

Fried Green Tomatoes

Ever since I saw the movie way back when I've wanted to try some and have just never gotten around to it. Well here in Utah we had SNOW this weekend....and this weeks forecast is 71! LOL! You know you live in Utah if you have SNOW and 70's in the same week :). Anyways my mom and dad had a TON of tomatoes and a lot were green so I picked some up and made some Fried Green Tomatoes tonight!
YUMMY! I really enjoyed them! Here's the Recipe I used:

FRIED GREEN TOMATOES from Southern Living

Yield

Makes 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients

• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, divided
• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 3 medium-size green tomatoes, cut into 1/3-inch slices
• Vegetable oil
• Salt to taste

Preparation

Combine egg and buttermilk; set aside.

Combine 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, cornmeal, 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper in a shallow bowl or pan.

Dredge tomato slices in remaining 1/4 cup flour; dip in egg mixture, and dredge in cornmeal mixture.

Pour oil to a depth of 1/4 to 1/2 inch in a large cast-iron skillet; heat to 375°. Drop tomatoes, in batches, into hot oil, and cook 2 minutes on each side or until golden. Drain on paper towels or a rack. Sprinkle hot tomatoes with salt

***IMO they could have used a little more flavoring in the breading...not sure what though.

Greek Chicken & Pasta

I made this on Friday night. Got the recipe from: E-Mealz Menus & Meal Planning which is a site that has different options and will give you a weekly menu with a shopping list etc. I love it, I have a REALLY hard time coming up with stuff on my own so this works great for me.

Greek Chicken & Pasta Makes 3 servings 6 WW Points Each
3/4 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast
4 c fresh spinach
4oz sliced mushrooms
2 Roma Tomatoes sliced
1/3 c Reduced Fat Feta Cheese
1/2 c Fat Free Balsamic Vinaigerette**
1 1/2 cup cooked Angel Hair Pasta

Cut chicken into tenders. Layer spinach, chicken tenders (I seasoned with Garlic & Onion Powder and Seasoned salt), mushrooms, tomatoes & then feta in a sprayed 9x13 baking dish. Pour vinaigerette over all ingredients and bake 30 min at 350 uncovered. Divide into 3 portions and serve each portion with 1/2 cup pasta.

**I had no balsamic vinaigerette and didn't feel like making any so I used: Two Sisters Gourmet Garlic Parmasan Vinaigerette and it TRULY made the meal way NUMMY! My hubby is NOT a big fan of vinegar products but he REALLY like this one, said it was a keeper, he suggested instead of the Angel Hair pasta to use toasted italian bread underneath it.

Macho Nacos

Another 'staple' at our house is easy and YUMMY! We LOVE Mexican!

Basically make 1 pound of taco seasoned meat (we use Lowery's----got the recipe off of www.topsecretrecipes.comThen take nacho cheese sauce (you can buy it in a can at walmart), and tomatoes and olives and anything else you might like to add. Quick and easy and WAY YUMMY

On another front...our Kitty DeeJay is still really sick. She's starting to really worry me. She's been on antibiotics and anti-inflammatories for almost 2 weeks, and we added a very powerful antibiotic on Friday. She's been really 'clingy' today and is VERY VERY tender to the touch on her tummy, to the point of biting. Guess she will be seeing Grandpa (aka vet) tomorrow. She has a bladder infection, with secondary kidney infection and upper respiratory infection.

Easy Fajitas

I made easy Fajita's for dinner.

Chicken or Beef Sliced/Diced into small strips or chunks
Fajita Seasoning (using McCormicks)
Sliced Onion
Sliced Green Pepper
Cook all the above
Then I use Low Carb Tortilla shells and then add fresh tomato and cheese. WAY easy and WAY yummy. Rob (hubby) has been craving them a lot lately.

Banana Bread

Shortly after we moved to West Jordan (Jan 07) we had some bananas that were on the verge of going bad so hubby wanted banana bread. Well being the 'non-homemaker' that I was/am I had never made it (to my recollection anyways) so I searched online and found a recipe for 'Easy Banana Bread' it is so simple! Rob absolutely loves it! He says it's the best he's ever had!

1 Cup Sugar
8 Tablespoons Butter/Margarine
3 Bananas
Cream Sugar/Butter, Mash Bananas and add to the mixture
***The thing that Rob LOVES about my nanner bread is that I don't completely mash the Bananas but I leave some chunks....he loves that!
2 Eggs Beat and add to the mixture
Then slowly add
1 & 1/4 cup flour
1 t Baking Soda
1/2 t salt
You can also add Walnuts but Rob and I prefer it plain.
Set oven to 350 for 30-45 Min (I have found that mine usually need about 1 hour on 350) so just keep that in mind, do the toothpick trick to test for doneness.

To make it less calories for us dieters, use Splenda instead of Sugar, also use low fat or fat free butter or margarine, although make sure it says for baking or you'll end up with really gooey 'heavy' bread! I'll post pictures later of my masterpiece I made today!

Amish Friendship Bread

I received an Amish Friendship Bread starter from my mom 10 days ago...today I made it...I used Lemon Pudding....YUM!

Amish Friendship Bread Recipe

Day 1 - receive the starter (the recipe for the starter is below)
Day 2 - Mush bag
Day 3 - Mush Bag
Day 4 - Mush Bag
Day 5 - Mush Bag
Day 6 - Add 1 cup each bag of Flour, Sugar, Milk & mush
Day 7 - Mush Bag
Day 8 - Mush Bag
Day 9 - Mush Bag
Day 10 - Follow Directions Below:

Add 1 & 1/2 cups flour, 1 & 1/2 cups sugar and 1 & 1/2 cups milk. Divide into 4 ziploc bags, with 1 cup each for three of your friends and 1 cup for your own loaves. Give friends the instructions for Day 1 through Day 10 and the following recipe for baking the bread.

After removing the 3 cups of batter, combine the remaining cup of Amish Friendship Bread starter with the following ingredients in a large bowl:

1 cup oil
3 eggs
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 to 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup milk
1 lg box instant pudding (vanilla, chocolate, lemon)

Using a fork beat by hand until well blended. You can add 1 cup raisins and 1 cup nuts (optional).

Grease two loaf pans with butter, sprinkle with sugar instead of flour.

Bake at 325 for 1 hour. Cool 10 minutes, remove from pans. Makes two loaves of Amish Friendship Bread.

Amish Friendship Bread Starter

This is the Amish Friendship Bread Starter Recipe that you’ll need to make the Amish Friendship Bread (above). It is very important to use plastic or wooden utensils and plastic or glass containers when making this. Do not use metal at all!

Ingredients:

1 pkg. active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (110°F)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1 cup warm milk (110°F)

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in warm water for about 10 minutes. Stir well.

2. In a 2 quart glass or plastic container, combine 1 cup sifted flour and 1 cup sugar. Mix thoroughly or the flour will get lumpy when you add the milk.

3. Slowly stir in warm milk and dissolved yeast mixture. Loosely cover the mixture with a lid or plastic wrap. The mixture will get bubbly. Consider this Day 1 of the cycle, or the day you receive the starter.

For the next 10 days handle starter according to the instructions above for Amish Friendship Bread.