Week five results

3 lbs gained last week.   2 lbs lost this week.   Not so great, but I'm still sticking with it.   I'm going to be more vigilant about eating only fruits and vegetables for snacks.   I haven't posted a lot of new recipes because my life has been crazy and I've been making old healthy favorites.   We're going out of town this week for my brother's mission homecoming.   That will be a challenge.   I going to bring my own cooler full of fruits and vegetables and will make good choices at restaurants.   I'm not going to eat back to back crap.  If I have one cheat meal,  I'm going to get back on it and not let that one meal turn into one week of bad eating.

Green chili chicken soft tacos

Crackpot green chili chicken:
4 chicken breasts
1/4 tsp.  Garlic powder
1/4 tsp.  Sea salt
3 cans diced green Chiles
1 yellow onion, finely diced
4 tbsp honey

Place chicken in crock pot and add 1/2 cup water.  Season to of chicken with garlic powder and salt.   In a small bowl,  combine green Chiles,  onion and honey.  Add on top of chicken.  Don't stir.   She'd with fork and serve with lettuce wraps or while grain tortillas with your favorite healthy taco ingredients.   I served mine with black beans,  lettuce,  salsa and guacamole.

Week Three Results: Lost 1 lb!

This week was rough, I'm not going to lie.  It seems it's easier for me to cheat now than to really stick to it. Old habits are creeping up.  I still lost 1 lb, so that's good, but I can do better. I'm going to be really vigilant though this next week.  My goal is to lose 4 more lbs in the next two weeks before my brother gets home from his mission and we have a huge family reunion!  Easter, no problem.  Traveling to my grandparent's next weekend, bring it!  

Getting up an hour before the kids to exercise has really worked good.  I get a lot more done during the day and am able to exercise without interruption which is huge at my house!  I'm a lot stronger than I was just a few weeks ago.  I can do 100 sit-ups, 100 push-ups and 100 squat jumps and not even get sore anymore!  I love it!  I've spent a lot of time on the computer preparing my next novel for publication, so I'm going to make sure to get up more this next week and MOVE!!!

Week Four Menu

Take Me to Thailand Spicy Peanut Shrimp

Take Me to Thailand Spicy Peanut Shrimp

Ingredients

·         Rice noodles or Whole Wheat noodles

·         1 tablespoon peanut oil or olive oil

·         6 ounces shrimp, chicken or tofu

·         2 shallots, or white onion finely diced

·         2 cloves garlic, chopped

·         1/2 cup spicy peanut sauce (store bought or homemade)

·         2 eggs, lightly beaten

·         2 tablespoons roasted peanuts, chopped

·         1 cup zucchini

·         2 green onions, sliced

·         1 lime lime cut into wedges

Directions

1.       Cook the noodles in water as directed on package until just pliable.

2.      Heat oil in a pan over medium-high heat.

3.      Add the zucchini, shrimp, shallots and garlic and sauté for 1 minute.

4.      Add the peanut sauce and noodles, mix and move to the side of the pan.

5.      Add the egg, let it set a bit and then mix it into the noodles.

6.      Add the peanuts and cook for a minute.

7.      Add the green onions and remove from heat.

8.      Garnish with lime.

I modified this recipe from one I found online to make it more family-friendly but still healthy and tasty.  This wasn't too spicy and the kids actually really liked it.  They like hearing about where different foods come from across the world.  Educational and delicious!  Who would have thought?

Fresh Berry Topping

Modifying a few of my favorites is what its all about to make this a long-term lifestyle.  I love french toast and so do my kiddos.  Instead of dousing it in butter and high-sugar maple syrup, I made this fresh berry topping.  I threw strawberries, raspberries and blueberries into a pot with about a 1/2 cup of water.  I heated it over medium heat to a slow boil and added about 1/4 cup cornstarch to thicken it.  It was a bit tart, so I added about 1/2 cup honey. This can be used over breads, low-sugar cake, pancakes or whatever else you would normal use frosting, or syrup!

Thai Vegetable Curry Salad

I used the leftovers from last nights Thai Vegetable Curry to make a salad for lunch today.  So yummy!  I just put the leftovers on a bed of spinach.

Thai Vegetable Curry

Hubby and kids loved this, I couldn't believe it!  Recipe is from Eat To Live

Week Three Results

Okay, so maybe not that extreme, haha.  I lost 1/2 in this week but 0 lbs.  I think its because I've added a good amount of resistance to my workouts so I'm gaining more muscle, losing inches but not necessarily pounds on the scale.  I also had 2 cheats this week: shake on a date with Ben and ice cream cake on my daughter's birthday (I felt totally sick both times and was amazed at how I could feel the impact of the sugar).  Ben lost 3 lbs though, so, it's still working!

Strawberry Bread

Snack Transformation!

This is my effort to change my snacking habits.  I've made a promise to myself to eat only raw fruits and vegetables for those in-between meal munchies.  I have added hummus to the veggies.  This is what I go for now in the afternoon rather than crackers, granola bars, cereal or yogurt.  It's a big change for me, but I think its a big reason why I lost weight last week and will continue to be an important part of my health and success.

Mexican Pizza

My family loved this last night!

Ingredients:
Whole grain/wheat pizza crust
Re-fried/Pinto beans
Salsa
Onion
Yellow Pepper
Cheese
Lettuce
Black Olives
Guacamole

Top Crust with Beans, then Salsa.  Sprinkle Onion and Yellow Peppers and top with Cheese.  Bake at 400 degrees 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted and crust is done according to liking.  Top with Lettuce, Black Olives and Guacamole.

Basic H

I have been using Basic H for the past six months to remove dirt and pesticides from my produce.   It is non - toxic and 100% biodegradable.   It's not a soap or detergent.  It effectively removes 99.9% of pesticides sprayed onto produce.

It is very cost effective too!

To remove poisonous residue and grime from transport of your fruits and veggies you put 10 to 12 drops of Basic H into 10 cups cold water.   

Put in produce and let sit 10 to 15 min.  

Then rinse with warm water.   

That's it!   You can see how clean your produce is.   The white spots on grapes are gone!

You can see how dirty the water left behind is!