Meal Plan: Vacation at Disney/Super Bowl party January 27- February 2

So this week is a little different! We leave for vacation on Monday. We are driving to Walt Disney World for a whirl wind of fun. All followed by a return trip, and a super bowl party on Sunday! This is going to be a very different meal plan.  I will include all the things we will be eating for the week so you can see how we plan around a vacation and traveling.  It is an extra challenge to have continued weight loss on vacation. We were able to do in on our trip and May, and hope to success this trip as well! The first step is planning, planning, planning! Posting this to show how I plan, but feel free to jump back a couple of weeks and use an old meal plan this week.

Monday: Travel day (Drive 5:00 AM- 8:00PM)
Breakfast
Adults: Beachbody Shakeology
Kids: Chex and honey nut cheerios, apple slices

Snack
Bananas, Walnuts

Lunch
Adults: Peanut butter, nutella and Fig preserve sandwichs, grapes, Skinny popcorn
Kids: Kids Cliff bar, Grapes, skinny popcorn, yogurt, fruit snacks

Dinner
Chick-fil-a, fruit snacks

Tuesday: Arrival day (Drive 7:00AM -12:00PM)
Breakfast
Adults: Beachbody Shakeology, banana
Kids: Kids Cliff bar, Grapes, yogurt

Snack
Adults: Celery with peanut butter, skinny popcorn
Kids: fruit squeezes

Lunch (In room)
Adults: Microwave egg whites, turkey bacon, yogurt and bread
Kids: Toddler meals, yogurt Fruit snacks

Dinner
Old Key West Birthday Celebration

Wednesday (Animal Kingdom/Magic Kingdom): 
Breakfast
Adults: Beachbody Shakeology, banana
Kids: Cereal and milk, banana

Snack
Grapes, baby carrots

Lunch (In room)
Peanut butter, Nutella, fig preserve sandwich, apple/orange, skinny popcorn
Toddler meals

Dinner
Cosmic Rays- John and I split Roasted chicken, add extra yogurt

Thursday (Hollywood Studios)
Breakfast
Adults: Egg Whites, Turkey Bacon, grapes
Kids: Cereal and milk, grapes

Snack
Fruit squeezes, Walnuts

Lunch
Adults: Baked potato with cheese and turkey bacon
Kids: toddler Meals

Dinner
Hollywood Studios- Studios catering Co.

Friday: (Magic Kingdom/ departure)

Breakfast
Adults: Beachbody Shakeology, banana
Kids: Cereal and milk, yogurt

Snack
Cereal bars

Lunch
At MK Pinocchio Village Haus

Dinner
On Road Chuck E Cheese

Saturday (Travel day):

Breakfast
Adults: Beachbody Shakeology, banana
Kids: Cereal and milk, yogurt

Lunch
Adults: Peanut butter, nutella and Fig preserve sandwichs, grapes, Skinny popcorn
Kids: Kids Cliff bar, Grapes, skinny popcorn, yogurt, fruit snacks

Dinner
At Home- Something from the freezer!

Sunday(Super bowl party):

Turkey and Veggi Turkey

2 Lbs Ground Turkey

1 Large Onion, Chopped

4 Garlic Cloves, Minced

4 Large Carrots, Chopped

4 ribs of Celery, Chopped

2 Medium yellow peppers, chopped

2 Orange Bell peppers, chopped 

2 Tbsp Chili powder

2 Tbsp paprika

1 Tbsp Cumin

2 Tsp Oregano

1 Tsp Salt

½ Tsp Cayenne Pepper

6 cups of reduced sodium chicken broth

6 (10 oz ) Cans Diced tomatoes with chilies

2 (15.5 OZ) Cans Kidney Beans

2 (15.5 Oz) Cans fat free RE-fried beans

Coat a 12-inch sauté pan with cooking spray; set over medium-high heat. Brown turkey, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon as it cooks, about 10 minutes; drain and set aside.


                       

Coat a large pot with cooking spray; set over medium heat. Cook onion, stirring occasionally, until soft but not browned, about 5 minutes. Add garlic; cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add carrots, celery and peppers; cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add chili powder, paprika, cumin, oregano, salt and cayenne; stir for 1 minute.


Stir in broth, tomatoes, both types of beans and turkey; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, stirring every 5 minutes, about 35 minutes total.

Serves 16

168 Calories per serving

Weight Watchers Corn Bread (From Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook, pg 63)

2 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal
1 1/2 Cup all-purpose flour
3 Tbsp sugar
5 tsp baking powder
1/2 Tbsp Salt
2 1/4 cups low fat buttermilk
2 eggs

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, prepare 24 count Muffin Pan (With cooking spray or wrappers)

In a large bowl, combine the Cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt .  In a small bowl, beat buttermilk and eggs. Pour over the flour mixture; stir until just blended (Do not overmix)

Transfer to muffin pan, Bake until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean, 20 minutes.  Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, serve warm.

Serves 24
100 calories per muffin

Cinnamon Honey Butter (This just sounds amazing, but use sparingly because it is still pretty high in calories)

2 sticks of butter, at room temperature
6 Tbsp Honey
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp Salt

Combine ingredients in a mixer with paddle attachment. Serve at room temperature.

Serving size 1/2 Tbls, yields aprox 36 servings.
55 Calories per serving

Roasted Red potatoes and broccoli 

Ingredients: 

24 red skin potatoes, washed and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
4 cup chopped broccoli
1 Tbsp Salt
1 Tbsp Pepper
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp paprika
2 tsp basil
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 425 degree and warm Large roasting Pan for 5 minutes

Remove pan and spray with cooking spray, and add all ingredients. Toss with tongs.

Spray vegetables with cooking spray, cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes

Remove from oven, Toss with tongs, and replace for 10 minutes with heat increased to 475 degrees to crisp.

Serves 16 (170 calories per serving)

Chocolate Buttons (300 Calorie Cookbook, pg 184)

Ingredients
10 Dates, pitted and chopped
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup soft baking butter with canola oil
1/4 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate
1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 cup Dark Brown sugar
1/4 cup fat free sour cream
1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

combine dates, and water in small sauce pan. cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to med and simmer 1 minuted or until dates are soft. place dates and cooking liquid in food processor, process until smooth. (Mixture will be pasty.)

Melt butter and chocolate in small sauce pan over low heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in medium bowl, and mix well.

Beat date mixture, chocolate mixture, brown sugar, and sour cream in a large bowl an med speed for 2 minutes (until well blended)

Add flour mixture  beat a low speed until blended

Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet. Sprinkle with cocoa.

Bake 6 minutes or just until set. Do not over bake. cool on cookie sheet 2 minutes, and then transfer ti wire racks to cool completely.

Yogurt Caramel Corn

Ingredients:
2 containers Dannon yogurt
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
1 2/3 cup maple syrup
2/3 Bag of skinny pop popcorn

Combine Yogurt, brown sugar and syrup in skillet. Cook on Medium-high heat to boil,  stirring occasionally. Stop stirring and allow to bubble for 5 minutes. remove from heat.

Place 2/3 bag of skinny popcorn into a large bowl. Drizzle mixture over the popcorn. Stir to coat evenly.


Veggie Tray and Roasted Garlic Spread with three cheeses (300 calories page 48)

Ingredients
Various veggies for dipping
2 heads of Garlic
2 pacakges of cream cheese, softened
1 pacakge (3.5 oz) Goat cheese
2 Tbsp  (1 oz) crumbled blue cheese, plus additional for garnish
1 tsp Dried Thyme

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  cut of the tops of garlic head to expose the tops of cloves. Place Garlic in a small baking pan. Bake for 45 minutes or until very tender. Remove from pan, and cool completely. Squeeze garlic into small bowl and mash with fork. Discard skins

Beat cream cheese and goat cheese in small bowl until smooth. Stir in Garlic, 2 Tbsps of blue cheese, and thyme. COVER AND REFRIGERATE OVER NIGHT (OR  3 HOURS).

Put and serving bowl and garnish with blue cheese crumbles. Serve with veggies.

2 Tablespoons equals 37 calories

To Pack
Blender
Cups with straws
Dish soap
kids bowls (2)
Kids spoons (2)
Potato express

10 scoops of shakology (Chocolate)
Almond butter
Fig preserves
Cinnamon
Almond Milk
5 Ziplock servings Honey Nut Cheerios
5 Zip lock servings Chex
5 apples
8 bananas
4 ziplock baggies of walnuts
Peanut butter
 Nutella
Loaf of bread
6 Very full ziplocks of grapes for sharing
12 servings of skinny popcorn
8 Kids Cliff bars
2 adult cereal bars
12 yogurts
36 bags of fruit snacks
Celery with Peanut butter
6 Fruit squeezes
6 Egg whites
Turkey bacon 8 slices
4 toddler meals
2 ziplocks of baby carrots
2 medium potatoes
2 sevings of shredded cheddar
2 servings of chives

Grocery list (Since I am pretty sure no one else will be following this plan this week this is literally my grocery list.)

1 Large Onion
3 Garlic Heads

4 ribs of Celery

2 Medium yellow peppers

2 Orange Bell peppers 
10 Dates, pitted
Bananas
Grapes
apple
3 baking potatoes
Jif (Small container)
Nutella (Small)

Loaf of bread

6 (10 oz ) Cans Diced tomatoes with chilies

2 (15.5 OZ) Cans Kidney Beans

2 (15.5 Oz) Cans fat free RE-fried beans

Small bag yellow cornmeal
baking powder
Baking Soda
Salt
Dark Brown Sugar
1/4 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate
Maple Syrup

Fruit Squeezes (6)
Toddler meals (4)

2 1/4 cups low fat buttermilk
8 eggs

fat free sour cream

2 containers Dannon yogurt
12 Yogurts
2 pacakges of cream cheese
1 pacakge (3.5 oz) Goat cheese
crumbled blue cheese

Turkey bacon

2 Bags of skinny pop popcorn
Fruit snacks

Veggies for tray
24 red skin potatoes

Meal Plan Jan 20-26

Monday: Sloppy Joes (300 Hundres Calorie page 114) Serve with Oven baked Zucchini Chips (Found online via Facebook) This is a great comfort food, and I love that it is so easy to freeze and use as left overs. I am going to double this recipe and freeze one set.

Southwestern Sloppy Joes

Southwestern Sloppy Joes

Ingredients:
1 Lbs Lean Ground beef
1 Cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup water
1 can (10 oz) diced tomatoes and green chiles
1 can (8 oz) no-salt-added tomato sauce
4 tsp packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp Steak sauce (A1)

1- Brown beef, onion, celery and water for 6-8 Minutes in a large non-stick pan over med heat, stirring to break up meat

2- stir in Tomatoes, tomato sauce, brown sugar, cumin, salt and steak sauce; Bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until mixture is thickened

This makes 8 servings.  The sloppy Joe is 140 Plus the calories in your bun. We are going to try Ezekiel bread this week and see what we think. so ours will be 180 calories, We will use 4 servings and put 4 in the fridge for leftovers, and the double of this meal we will put in the freezer.

Oven baked Zucchini Chips

Oven Baked Zucchini Chips

Ingredients
1 Large Zucchini cut into thin slices
1/3 cup bread crumbs or Panko(This is what I am using, find it in the international food area, saves you 40 Calories a serving)
1/4 Cup Grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp Ground black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
3 Tbsp skim milk

1- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Mix together Bread crumbs/Panko, cheese and spices in a large zip lock

2- Dip zucchini slices in the milk, then add them to zip lock bag and shake to coat

3- spread out onto a prepared baking sheet and bake 25 minutes or until crispy brown

Makes 2 servings for 120- 158 calories per servings.  John and I will slipt them in half and give a few to the boys.  (who will also have green beans)

Together dinner will come 420 Calories

Tuesday: Left overs day!

Wednesday: Slow cooker Zucchini Ziti serve with spinach salad- This is a new recipe for me, but I love Zucchini and ziti and this sound great and fairly easy!

Ingredients:
1 Jar (24 oz) Marinara (Ragu lite no sugar added)
3 cups whole grain Ziti shells or penne
2 cups fat free cottage cheese
2 cups skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 large zucchini (cut into 1/4 in slices)
1 tsp dried oregano
1Tbsp fresh chopped basil
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp salt

In a large mixing bowl combine all ingredients. Pour mixture into slow cooker, cover and cook on low for 2 hours or until pasta is al dente (firm but not hard)

Makes 4 servings at 388 each. John and I will have 1.5 servings each and .5 servings each for the boys. With the salad the dinner comes to 459 calories for dinner.

Turkey Sliders

Thursday: Turkey Sliders (300 calories page 106) I am having a dear friend over for dinner so I want to make something fun and tasty. I love these little turkey sliders! although I usually make them in the summer.  I am serving them with Roasted potatoes and broccoli.

Ingredients:
1 Lbs lean ground turkey
1/2 cup finely chopped green onion
 2 Tbsp low-fat mayonnaise
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/8 tsp salt
12 leaves of baby spinach
1/4 cup shredded reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese
1 shallot cut into thin slices
1 Tbsp steak sauce
12 sweet Hawaiian rolls

1- Combine turkey, green onion. mayo, Worcestershire sauce, pepper and salt into a large mixing bowl.  mix well and shape into 12 small patties. It is best to refrigerate the patties for at least 20 minutes before cooking.

2- spray a large non stick skillet with cooking spray: heat over medium heat. Add patties; cook for 5 minutes per side until cooked through.

3- Layer Spinach, patties, cheese, shallot and steak sauce onto rolls.

Makes 12 sliders, 3 sliders is 393 calories. The boys will probably not eat these so I will make them something different, and John will be at work. I which I will save for leftovers.

Roasted Red potatoes and broccoli 

Ingredients: 

6 red skin potatoes, washed and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 cup chopped broccoli
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp basil
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 425 degree and warm 13X9 baking dish for 5 minutes

Remove pan and spray with cooking spray, and add all ingredients. Toss with tongs.

Spray vegetables with cooking spray, cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes

Remove from oven, Toss with tongs, and replace for 5 minutes with heat increased to 475 degrees to crisp.

Serves 4 (170 calories per serving)

Together dinner comes out to 563 Calories 

Friday: We are going to have dinner with my in-laws to celebrate John's birthday.

Saturday: May parents will be in town, and we will be going out to dinner (probably Chick-fil-a, the boys love it!)

Sunday: Leftovers

Check your cabinets:

Brown sugar

Breadcrumbs or Panko

Grated Parmesan cheese

Ground Cumin

Garlic Powder

Cayenne pepper

dried oregano

paprika

Basil

Ground black pepper

Salt

Cooking spray

Al steak sauce

Worcestershire sauce

Light Salad dressing of your choice

Low fat Mayonnaise

Shopping List

2 Lbs Lean Ground beef

1 Lbs lean ground turkey

onion

celery

green onion

shallot

2 Large Zucchini

6 red skin potatoes

Head of Broccoli

fresh basil

Bag of baby spinach

sweet Hawaiian rolls

Rolls for Sloppy Joes or Ezekiel bread  

2 cans (10 oz) diced tomatoes and green chiles

2 cans (8 oz) no-salt-added tomato sauce

1 Jar (24 oz) Marinara (Ragu lite no sugar added)
Whole grain Ziti shells or penne pasta
skim milk
2 cups fat free cottage cheese
2 cups skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
Bag of shredded reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese

Countdown to Spring

Ever find yourself in a winter funk? For me, it usually hits hard in February. Christmas is over, the cold weather is miserable, and there is still at least a month until things start to warm up.  All I can think about is all the fun things I can do when Spring comes. I get desperate to get out of the house, to enjoy some sunshine, and just to be done with the dreary cold winter.  Knowing this about myself, I am always trying to come up with ways to counter balance the Funk. This year, I came up with a game for myself and one of my dear friends and our kids (1, 2.5, 2 & almost 5). It is called, Countdown to Spring. The idea is this. We came up with 12 fun ideas of activities we would like to do with our kids or places we would like to go.  We wrote each idea down on a card and placed the card into an envelope.  The envelopes all go into a lovely wicker treasure box, and each week we figure out when we have time to get together. The kids draw an activity from the box for that day. It is a surprise for them and a surprise for us. Plus, we realized that we have 12 activities we are looking forward to this winter.  (And as a bonus, we actually realized there are three weekend activities we want to make sure we do this winter. They could not go in the countdown because they will have to be on specific days, but they came out in the brainstorming.)

The details: 

We decided that if an activity needed snow we would put a snowflake sticker on the envelope and then only put those envelopes in the box on weeks where we will have snow.

Any activities which need to have special supplies on hand we purchase ahead of time so we don't have to make a quick run to the store when the card is pulled.

We tried to keep cost down.  Activities are free or low cost. They include places we can pack a lunch or eat at one of our homes. We also tried to come up with activities including stuff we have in our homes already.

We realized there was one little bump.  We were planning on having the kids take turns drawing cards. However, with a week between draws, they will lose track of whose turn it is. This will also made the process pretty uneventful for the kids who don't draw each week.  To avoid the potential issue, we have the kids draw straws to see who gets to pick the envelope.  We will see how that goes, but we drew the first envelope last week and they seemed to love it.

Museum of Natural History Jan 17, 2014

The activities:

Paint your own pottery Jan 21, 2014

1- Build a snow man and warm up with microwave smores

2- Paint pottery: Just bought some from Amazon.  This is the one I got.

3- Photo "Booth" Fun: Got together some fun accessories into a large bin.  The kids can dig through them and pose for funny pictures.

Bowling Feb 4, 2014 

4- Project Linus Blankets: Wanted to do something community service related. We are making a simple new sew blankets, but there are lots of patterns to choose from.  We will go to the store so the kids can pick their fabric, make the blankets and drop them off at the Moon Library.

5- Toy Story Movie Party: I have left over cookie dough from christmas and I have Toy story cookie cutters.  I will make the cookies ahead of time, so the kids can decorate cookies, make popcorn, and play with our Toy story toys and watch Toy Story 2!)

6- Super hero day: We are making capes and playing super hero. Reading super hero themed books too!

7- Throwing ribbons art

Sledding and Hot chocolate Feb 6, 2014

8- Make a Pizza dinner: grocery shop, make the dough, do the toppings and cook dinner for us and the daddies too!

9- Sledding and warm up with Hot chocolate

10- Museum of Natural History (Dino Museum)

11- Bowling day!

12- Hand puppets: Between our two families we have a good amount of puppets. We are going to pick books that coordinate with out puppets and make any extra puppets we need to fill the characters we are missing. Then we will act out some stories with our puppets!

So excited to get started! Friday we go to the Museum.  I will add pictures as we go, and a recap at the end of the countdown.

Meal Plan January 13- 19

Monday: New fashioned Beef Stew (Pg 18 prevention) This is a new one for me. Feels like a nice cold weather dish to warm us up! Not as good as moving south, but it couldn't hurt.

Ingredients:

New Fashioned Beef Stew

4 Small Red Potatoes
1 Medium Turnip
1 Medium Parsnip
1 cup peeled pearl onions
3 Med carrots (I am going to sub in baby carrots, because we have them)
1 cup drained canned tomatoes
1 3/4 cup reduced sodium beef broth (I am going to sub chicken broth because I have it)
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
2 Garlic cloves, crushed
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp Dried Thyme
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
12 oz lean trimmed beef top round or sirloin, cut into 1/2 inch cubes (1 inch cubes would have been better!)
1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp olive oil
I also added 1/2 teaspoon of beef bouillon because I used chicken broth. 

1- Cut each potato into 6 wedges.  Peel the turnip, parsnips and carrots and cut it into chunks. peel the onions.

2- In a large heavy saucepan, combine the potatoes, turnips, parsnips, onions, carrots, tomatoes, broth, vinegar, 1 clove garlic, bay leaf, 1/4 tsp thyme, and 1/4 tsp of pepper. Break up the tomatoes with the edge of a spoon. Cover and bring to boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 25 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

3- Meanwhile,  toss the beef cubes with remaining garlic, thyme and black pepper.  Dredge the seasoned beef cubes with the flour.

4- in a large, heavy skillet, warm the oil over high heat until very hot but not smoking. Add the beef and sauté for 5 minutes, or until the beef is browned on the outside and Med-rare on the inside.

5- Add the beef to the vegetables, reduce heat to med- low and simmer for 5 minutes, or until the vegetables are fully tender and the flavors are blended.

Makes 4 servings.  we will eat 3 servings, and put the last in the fridge for leftovers day. Serve with Sweet Hawaiian roll and I can't believe it's not butter. and the meal comes out to 460 calories. Kinda a low calorie day, so we may go out for frozen yogurt on Monday evening.

Fajita Chicken Sausage and Eggs

Tuesday: Fajita Chicken Sausage and eggs- John teaches Tuesday nights so I don't like to do anything too difficult.  Plus, I only need to make 1 or 2 servings depending if the boys will be interested. He will pick something at work.

I got Fajita stuffed sausages at Sams Club.  They are 160 Calories a link, so I use them sparingly. I will cut one up and and scramble in a skillet (Sprayed with Pam Olive oil) with 6 egg whites, and a handful of spinach leaves. Serve it with an english muffin with a little bit of I can't Believe it's not butter.  Finish with a container of yogurt.  Dinner for one for 520 Calories.

Wednesday: Baked Chicken Oreganata (pg 123 Prevention) This is like home made Shake and bake, and it is a Locke Family Favorite.  Always a winner.

Ingredients:
1 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast or thighs, well trimmed
1 Tbsp lemon juice (you can sub lime if you have it)
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp dried mint (If you don't have this, cut it)
1/8 tsp salt or salt sub
1/4 cup dry bread crumbs (unseasoned or italian style)
2 Tbsp grated parmesan cheese
10-20 spears Asparagus
1 tsp Olive oil

1-Preheat oven to 450 degrees, and spray 9X13 inch baking dish with non-stick spray

2- Place chicken in med bowl with lemon juice and garlic. toss to combine.

3- In a small cup combine Oregano, pepper, mint and salt. In a Zip-Lock bag combine bread crumbs, cheese, and half of the above oregano mixture.  Shake up the bag until chicken is coated.

4- Place chicken in the backing dish, and scatter remaining mixture from Ziplock bag on top of chicken. Arrange Asparagus around the chicken. Drizzle oil over chicken, and sprinkle remaining oregano over the asparagus.

5- Bake for 25-30 minutes, until chicken is cooked through.  Serve with Asparagus.

Serves 4, we will eat 3 and save one for leftovers night. I will serve this with a Hawaiian Roll and I can't believe it's not butter. The whole meal is 340 calories!!

Mushroom and bean stew

Thursday: Vegetarian meal day! Mushroom and bean stew (pg 83 veg)
I must be in a warm me up kinda mood, another stew! Loved this! it is a make again for sure. Delicious and filling.

Ingredients:
3 Tbsp olive oil
11/2 lbs Cremini mushrooms, coarsely chopped
1 Large (Going to use 1/2 large onion), finely chopped
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp Mild curry paste
2/3 cup dry white wine (I will be using grape juice, because I have it)
 1 14 1/2 oz can diced tomatoes
2 Tbsp sundried tomato paste
4 cups Mixed beans (such as kidney beans, pinto beans, chickpeas), drained and rinsed
3 Tbsp Mango chutney
3 Tbsp freshly chipped Cilantro

WOW!
That's a lot of mushrooms!

1- Heat oil in a large sauce pan over low heat. Sauté the mushroom and onions until soft. Stir in flour and curry paste, and cook for 2-3 Minutes.

2- add wine (juice), tomatoes, Tomato paste and beans.  Bring to a boil. REduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until most of the juice has been reduced. Stir in the chutney and the herbs right before serving.

This serves 4.  We will eat 1.5 portion each and serve one portion to the boys. Serving with 4 Saltine crackers and a spinach salad and a light dressing. Total meal comes to 540 Calories.  Turns out it was not for the boys, and the portion size is huge, so we ate half and froze the other for another day!

Friday: Left over day

Savory Pepper steak

Saturday: Savory Pepper Steak
I found this recipe on Facebook in a post about making and freezing crock pot meals. THat way you can thaw it overnight in the fridge and then throw it in the crock pot. I am going to DOUBLE this recipe, and I will make half and freeze the other half. SO heads up when making your shopping list.  Serve with Roasted Red potatoes and broccoli 

Ingredients:

1½ lbs round steak, cut into ½ in strips
¼ cup flour
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
1 small onion, cut into slices
4-5 garlic cloves, diced or crushed
1 green pepper, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 (16 oz) can Italian style tomatoes
1 tbsp beef bouillon
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp steak seasoning

1 tbsp steak sauce

Instructions

Toss steak in salt, pepper, & flour and add to gallon-sized freezer bag. In a med bowl mix together the rest of the ingredients, add to bag. Zip close and place in freezer. When ready to use thaw in fridge overnight. Empty contents into crock-pot and cook on low 8 hours.

Serves 6 (we will use 4 servings- my sister will be visiting- and put the other two in the fridge for leftovers) 350  calories a serving with the side below is a very hearty steak and potatoes meal for 520 calories.


Roasted Red potatoes and broccoli 

Ingredients: 
6 red skin potatoes, washed and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 cup chopped broccoli
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp basil
cooking spray
Preheat oven to 425 degree and warm 13X9 baking dish for 5 minutes
Remove pan and spray with cooking spray, and add all ingredients. Toss with tongs.
Spray vegetables with cooking spray, cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes
Remove from oven, Toss with tongs, and replace for 5 minutes with heat increased to 475 degrees to crisp.

Serves 4 (170 calories per serving)

Sunday: Dinner at the In-laws

Check your Kitchen
(These are things that I always keep on hand or have left over from last week. I don't put them on my shopping list, but make sure you have them):

Baby Carrots (or three med carrots)
Chicken broth (or beef broth)
Lemon Juice
Red wine vinegar
Salad dressing of choice (light)
Worcestershire sauce
Steak sauce

pre-cooked sausages

fresh head of garlic
Bay leaves
Thyme
Oregano
Garlic powder
Paprika
basil
Mint
Steak seasoning
Ground Black pepper
Salt or Salt substitute
Flour
Dry bread crumbs
Grated Parmesan cheese
Olive oil
pam olive oil cooking spray
6 eggs (or carton of egg whites)
Precooked sausages (See picture)
English muffin (Or substitute toast)
sweet Hawaiian rolls
Saltine crackers
Fresh Spinach
yogurt
Mild Curry paste (Still have from last week)
White grape juice (Still have from last week)

Shopping list:
Red skin potatoes (10)
Med Turnip
Med Parsnip
Pearl Onions (1 cup)

Cremini Mushrooms

1 Very Large Onion (Will use in two recipes)
2 Green Bell peppers
2 Red Bell Peppers
Fresh cilantro
Cremini Mushrooms (1.5 lbs) you can sub white button to save money or if they don't have Cremini at your store
Asparagus
Broccoli
Beef Bouillon
Mango Chutney
Sun dried tomato paste
Canned stewed tomatoes (8 oz)
1 Can diced tomatoes (14.5 OZ)
2 Cans italian style tomatoes (16 oz)
Mixed beans (you need 4 cups, so usually about 2 -3 cans) you can buy mixed beans or pick a mix for yourself. Kidney, pinto, chick pea, navy beans etc.
3.75 lbs (60 oz) of Lean top Round sirloin
1 lbs Boneless Skinless Chicken

Just what have you been doing?!? Part 2

The second important aspect of what John and I have been doing to get healthier since early 2013 is exercising regularly.

Together we do DDP Yoga, which a is combination of Yoga, Pilates and traditional work out methods.  All done with a flavor of Professional Wrestling. It is a little cheesy, but fun.  It appeals to my desire to do yoga (which I have often dabbled in and always loved), and it appeals to John's masculine side and love of Professional wrestling.  Those things were enough to get us started, but I have since fallen in love with it.  Diamond Dallas Page has a great knack for putting together workouts with lots of modifications for many different fitness levels and abilities.  You start out thinking, well that pose is just about impossible and then a month or so later you can do it.  I can now do real pushups, and I hove more muscle definition than I have ever had!  I know that we will continue doing DDP (or some form of yoga) forever. It is amazing how great your body feels when your muscles are stronger and you are more flexible.  I don't have as much stiffness or soreness, which I really appreciate as I get older (NOT old, just older). 

John and I both enjoy hitting the gym to do cardio. We are members at the Sewickley YMCA.  I love it there. They provide childcare for free while you use the facilities. If you are a parent, I recommend a gym or YMCA with a child watch program that you feel comfortable with.  I go to the gym, and the boys have fun playing with different toys then they have at home. They also meet new kids.  Not going to lie, sometimes I go to the Y because I need 45 minutes to myself. I will force myself to work out just to get a break.  Then, we all come out refreshed. I try to go to at least one Spin Class a week, but I am not super consistent there. On evenings that we don't have other things going on (which are rare) or on Saturday mornings, John and I can go together which i s always great.  We walk the indoor track together and talk without having to make sure the kids are safe and entertained. Then we do the elliptical trainer, stationary bike or treadmill.  After 30 minutes or so we meet back up do a few more laps, and go get the boys. Great way to unwind after dinner. 

I am also a budding runner.  If you knew me in high school or college this may shock you. I made up my mind I was going to start and did. I have run 2 half marathons (2:34 and 2:24 finishes), a couple of 10K races and several 5Ks. At first it was pretty hard, and I sorta hated it. I felt like I just did not have the breathing down. (Helpful hint: Don't over think it, slowly it stops feeling like you are going to die. There really is not a special breathing method.)  Now, I feel like a runner.  I enjoy it.  It makes me feel like a champion.  If you are looking to start running, I recommend a Run:Walk program like this one. Give it a shot and trust the process. However, unlike DDP Yoga, this is not easy on your body.  If you have knee problems or feet problems it may not be for you. Also, I know I will not run forever.  At some point I will have to stop, but in the mean time I will enjoy it and all the calories it burns!

So total- John and I do Yoga 3-4 times a week.  I run 1-3 times a week.  John and I do a cardio work out 1-3 times a week.  We always have 2-3 days where we rest. Yoga is 21-60 minutes, Spin is 1 hour, Running is 20-50 minutes, and when we do cardio it is about 40 minutes. I would say we are exercising 1-1.5 hours/day, 4-5 days/week.  A sample week for me would look something like this.

Monday: Morning Spin, evening Yoga

Tuesday: Morning Run, evening Yoga

Wednesday: Off

Thursday: Morning Run, Evening Yoga

Friday: Evening Yoga

Saturday: Morning Run, Evening yoga

Sunday: off

Meal Plan Jan 6- Jan 12

Chicken Breast with Pears

Monday: Chicken Breast with Pears (Pg 180 of prevention's)
I made this and my husband said it was the "best ever!!" I only stumbled across it because I had some pears I needed to use!
Serves with Spinach (Sauté 1 cup spinach in 2 tsp olive oil and a 2 cloves of garlic until wilted- about 5 min) and brown rice.

What works for me: Start the rice before the you start the main dish, and start the spinach while you sauté the chicken.

Ingredients:
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp salt or salt substitute
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into 4 pieces (Probably 2 breast cut in half unless you go to Sams club- then it is more like 1 breast cut into 4 pieces! God knows what they are feeding those chickens...I choose not to worry about it)
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 cup white grape juice (reciepe actually calls for pear nectar- I have not found that anywhere so I use grape juice, works like a charm!)
1/4 cup defatted chicken broth
2 tsp balsamic vingar
2 tsp honey
2 large ripe pears (Cut into 1/2 in cubes)
1 tsp cornstarch dissolved into 1 Tbsp chicken broth
1 tsp unsalted butter or margarine
 1/2 oz toasted coarsely chopped Walnuts (to toast walnuts: spread onto a backing pan and put in oven at 350 degrees for about 10 mins- until the brown slightly)

1- In a cup mix together thyme, salt and pepper.  then season chicken on both sides

2- In a Large heavy no-stick skillet warm oil over med-high heat. Add the chicken and sauté for 4-6 minutes per side transfer to a large plate and cover loosely with foil and set aside.

3- in same skillet- Add Grape juice, broth, vinegar and honey and bring to a boil stirring frequently

4- add pears to skillet, bring to boil and then reduce heat to Med-low.  Cover and simmer stirring occasionally for 2-3 min until pears are tender (May be a little longer depending on how ripe your pears were). Pour any juices from Chicken plate into the skillet,.  Stir in Cornstarch mixture, then add margarine, return to boil stir gently until sauce has thickened. remove skillet from heat.

5- Transfer chicken to plates, cover with sauce and then sprinkle with walnuts.

Makes 4 servings- We have one serving each, and spilt a serving between the boys.  the last serving goes into the fridge to be eaten as leftovers later in the week.  Each serving is 272 Calories total calories with spinach and rice is 475.  I like to add Sweet Hawaiian roll (90 calories) with a little margarine (35 calories) total 600 Calories.


Tuesday: Rosemary Pork Chop (From a Beachbody challenge we did) You can sub chicken if you have it in the house or if you don't do pork.
Super Easy, and yummy too! Serve with Steamed parmesan broccoli (Steam 2 cups of fresh Broccoli in steam basket from 5-8 minutes covered until soft, put in bowl and mix with Tbsp of grated parmesan cheese and 1 tsp garlic powder) and brown rice.

Ingredients:

Rosemary Pork Chop

4 4oz pork chops
3 Tbsp fresh rosemary (3 tsp dried rosemary)
1 tsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste (I use 1/4 tsp of each)

1- Marinate the pork chops in olive oil, rosemary, salt and pepper (for at least an hour)

2- Grill or Broil pork chop on high 4 min on each side.

Makes 4 servings, again John and I each have a serving, the boys spilt one and the other goes into the fridge for leftover day.  Each serving is 180 Calories.  Add Rice and Broccoli it is 400.

Wednesday: Mid week, HUMP DAY!! We will either be warming up a  meal I have frozen that I made in the past or going out to eat (the boys love Eat n Park and there are some great healthy option there).  THis week we are warming up stuffed peppers.  I made the stuffing for the peppers, and froze half. I bought fresh bell peppers to put the reheated stuffing in.

Thursday: Cashew Chicken (Pg 80 of 300 Calorie)
This is a go to for us.  John Loves Cashews, I love water chestnuts so we get the best of both world.  Yummy and filling. I serve this with a salad and dressing of your choice (Something on the light side).

Ingredients:

Cashew chicken

10 oz boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1 in pieces
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp Dry white wine (OR I am substituting white grape juice here a little sweeter, but I have in the fridge from Monday's recipe and it works fine)
1 Tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp olive oil
6 green onions, cut into 1 inch peices
2 cups fresh sliced Mushrooms
1 red or green bell pepper, cut into strips
1 can water chestnuts, rinsed and drained
2 Tbsp hoisin sauce (optional, but I recommend it!)
2 cups hot cooked rice (White or brown)
1/4 cup cashews Toasted (You can toast them in a skillet over med heat for 1-2 min or until lightly browned, do that before you start the chicken)

1-  Put chicken in a large Zip lock, in a bowl whisk together Cornstarch, Wine(Juice), soy sauce and garlic powder until smooth.  Pour over chicken seal bag, make sure chicken is coated and MARINATE FOR 1 HOUR in refrigerator.

2 Drain chicken: Discard Marinade. Heat oil in wok or large non stick skillet of Med-high heat. Add green onions, stir fry for 1 minute, Add Chicken stir-fry 2 minutes or until browned (It will be longer if you use a skillet more like 5-8), Add mushrooms, bell pepper, and water chestnuts stir fry 3 minutes or until veggies are crisp-tender and chicken is cooked. Stir in Hoisin sauce and stir-fry for 1 minute I add the cashews at that time to, but you can top with cashews when you plate it.

3- Serve over rice.

Makes 4 servings, 1.5 each for John and I, the boys share one. It is 274 calories for a serving (411 for 1.5), and I add salad and Sweet Hawaiian roll with butter, and this meal comes in at about 580 calories.

Friday: Vegetarian day!  Eggplant and Lentil Curry
This is a new recipe for me, but we have been discussing trying to have one meatless dinner a week. What better time to try than January. We will see how it goes!

Ingredients:
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 eggplants, cut into 1 inch chunks (Look for firm, shiny with a bright green stem)
1 onion chopped (I will use half an onion because I often find that the onions at my grocery store seem to yield more chopped onions than the recipe needs. Maybe a I just pick large onions? Either way, if it needs more onions I will make a note in the recipe for next time.)
2 Tbsp mild curry paste
3/4 cup vegetable stock, hot (I am substituting chicken stock because I have it, and I am not a for real-sie vegetarian)
3 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes

Eggplant and lentil Curry

3/4 cup red lentils, rinsed
3 1/2 cups Spinach leaves
1/2 cup freshly chopped cilantro
2 Tbsp Fat free Greek Yogurt
Cooked brown rice

1- Heat 2 Tbsp of oil in large sauce pan over low heat and sauté eggplant chunks until golden brown. remove from pan and set aside

2- Heat remaining oil in the same pan and sauté onion for 8-10 Minutes or until soft. add curry paste and sauté for another 2 Minutes.

3- Add tomatoes, hot stock, lentils, and egg plant into pan. Bring to a boil. Then reduce heat to a low simmer, cover halfway with a lid, and simmer for 25 minutes.

4- At the end of cooking stir the spinach, cilantro, and yogurt through the curry. Serve over rice.

This serve 4 John and I will probably do 1.5 serving each and split one serving between the boys.  I will have something on back up for them incase this is too spicy. it is 335 calories per serving (so about 500 for 1.5) I will probably have a sweet Hawaiian roll with butter too. Love them! (Total comes to 625 calories)

Saturday: Left overs day! YAY!

Sunday: On Sundays we usually go to my mother-in-laws house for dinner.  We plan for it to be a bit of a higher calorie dinner because we know what ever she makes will be wonderful, and we will not complain about a a free dinner!! She also tries to make something on the healthy side because she knows that is what we like.

Just what have you been doing?!? PART 1

In 2013, my husband and I lost over 100 lbs.  I am no wieght-loss guru, but I have had several people ask me just what we are doing to get SO thin. I attribute most of our success to healthier eating habits, but we are also working out regularly and trying to maintain a more active lifestyle. The first part of this entry will focus on eating habits.  I think eating habits are the hardest, and most important aspect of loosing weight and getting healthier!  We started slowly, at first, then as we adjusted to each change and lost more weight, we made more changes.  This is entry is about what we are currently doing, but remember if you are just starting out don't feel like you have to do everything perfectly.  Don't worry about being perfect or the perfect time to start.  Just start and do what you can. know that you will probably be hungry sometimes, and that over time IT GETS EASIER. Think more of changing your eating habits because temporary diets are fine to lose 5-10 lbs quickly, but don't work for losing a lot of weight and maintaing your goal weight. To start out with, I counted calories religiously, but it is really a guide to help learn approximately how much you should be eating a day. You also see how you get to eat SO much more food and feel more full when you eat lower calorie food. As you learn more ideas for meals and snacks to eat and your body adjust to eating better, you don't have to be a slave to the calorie count.

Breakfast- Many mornings we start our day with Shakeology from Beachbody. I was a little tentative about trying this, and John was SUPER skeptical. However, now we are totally sold.  The shakes are yummy.  Like REALLY yummy! There is a huge variety.  We like the vanilla and chocolate powders, and we get alternating bags monthly. With those two flavors we make all kinds of shakes.  Mixing in peanut butter, almond butter, nutella, cinnamon, berries, bananas, maple syrup and more.  Beyond the two flavors we order, there are more shake flavors available.  Even if you have it everyday, you won't get bored.  Maybe the most surprising thing to me is that they are filling. I thought I would have the shake for breakfast and then be absolutely starving by lunch, but not the case.  Love them! Oh, last thing, they are super healthy and they give me more energy. BONUS!  If you want info on them, or have questions feel free to contact my lovely coach, Jessica Spradley. On days I don't have a shake, I have cereal with almond milk, a piece of fruit and yogurt. Ultimately Breakfast comes out to 300-400 calories.

Lunch:  As a rule, I try to keep lunch between 300-600 Calories. For example, Peanut butter and nutella sandwich, Grapes and yogurt (Aprox. 450 calories). At Wendys: Small Chili and Side Salad with half package of italian dressing (Aprox 335 Calories).  Soup, Sweet Hawaiian roll with margarine and baby carrots (Aprox 280 Calories).

Dinner: I try to keep it around 600-900 Calories, and include a vegetable.  I have a couple of cookbooks I use often.  From time to time I pull stuff off the internet when I am looking for a healthy recipe for something specfic. The books I use the most are Prevention's Ultimate Quick & Healthy Cookbook and 300 Calorie recipes. I also just got Keep Calm and Veg(etarian) to try to include more vegetarian dishes into our routine (one a week perhaps).

Snacks: I try not to snack after dinner.  I try to have a snack between Lunch and dinner that is 100-200 calories.  Like a piece of fruit, popcorn, celery with peanut butter or vanilla wafers

Every week, I plan out specific dinners for the week. I make sure I have some basic things on hand for lunch and snacks I don't plan too far in advance there. Also, I have some extra kid's favorites on hand for the boys if I don't think they will be into whatever we have.  I will try to post my weekly meal plans on here with recipes so you can follow along if you want or just give it a try whenever you are interested.

Here are a few things we have replaced for other things:
Almond Milk for Milk
Diet Soda instead of Regular Soda
Popcorn or pretzels instead of Chips
Grapes, mellon, granola bar instead of Candy
turkey Pepperoni instead of Pepperoni
Ground Turkey instead of Ground beef
Nilla wafers instead of Oreos
Yogurt instead of ice cream

Things we just don't eat (Except on the very rare occasion):
Pizza
Wings
French fries
Most things that are deep fried

For now it is getting too late.  I will post the weeks meal plan tomorrow, but for now I need my beauty rest. ;)

Beauty of the season and resolutions 2014

This season, early January, is about more than trying to remember to write 1 "4" and not 1 "3." While adjusting to the new date can be a struggle, by the time I make that adjustment, I will also have a new set of goals, dreams and plans for the new year. I LOVE this season. Isn't it great to breath it all in? This time of new beginnings, refreshment and hope. I scan Social Media and enjoy seeing how my friends and love ones are hoping to improve themselves, empower themselves and love themselves.  It excites me.  It also reveals so much about each individual. In our resolutions, we can see what is important to us. When we look back on the past year we take stock. We define areas that we feel we have failed ourselves, or failed others.  We expose weaknesses and disappointments. We think, "Next time, I will do it this way." Or "I think I will be happier and healthier if I do this." We are also sharing with the world traits and habits of people we love which we want to emulate. What we value in the actions of our friends and family.  We are saying these are things which bring me joy and I want more of them in my life.  Some may fall short of these goals, these dreams. Some may succeed. Either way we have made a statement to anyone who wants to listen, and we have made a statement in our hearts.

For me, 2013 was a great year. I did pretty well with my resolutions from last year.  I learned it is super hard to remember to wish all your FB friends a happy birthday. I will try again, but I sure did underestimate the difficulty in that task!! Sorry to my friends who were born between October and December. YIKES! Meal planning was a HUGE success.  I planned and executed about 40 weeks or so including all weeks spent on vacation. I also lost 50 lbs! Meal planning works!

Finally, Reading 24 books in 2013.  I did it! (Counting one book about Potty Training, and the book that I finished yesterday, Jan 3 CORRECTION: After making the list below I realize I read 25, I had left one out before.). I'll take it as a win because one of the books I read was Under the Dome which is over 1000 Pages and the first book of Game of Thrones which is about 700 pages and introduces a bijillion characters. They were not great picks for completing books quickly.  That said, I am so happy with this resolution. I can feel my mind clicking.  I can feel my vocabulary expanding. My love of new characters, new stories, new journeys is like a familiar blanket I am all wrapped up in. It was not until I was all cozy inside that I realized how cold I was.  However, to accomplish this, I had a to focus almost all my spare time on reading.  Which I am hoping to adjust in the coming year.

SO with out further ado- my 2014 resolutions:

I want to WRITE more.  It is the other side of the coin of reading.  I had a teacher who taught me you should not do one without the other.  SO while I loved reading 24 books, I had no time to blog, or write much of anything.  This year, I write at least 2 blog entries a month, and write an outline for a play that I have been dreaming about for years.

I still want to include reading on this list because I don't want that to fall away completely in 2014! My resolutions for this year are: Complete Game of Thrones series, Read a book with John, and read 3 research based books for my play.

Painting is a pass time that I love, but I just NEVER get around to it. This year I plan to Finish 2 paintings, and complete a cool series of kid based projects.

For my health- I want to maintain a healthy weight this year.  I plan to do this by: Meal Planning weekly, and participating in the one 5K a month (I stole the 5K idea from a friend, Thanks Charlotte I think you are groovy!)

I have a few smaller ones as well, drink more water, use a chore list at home, go to confession at least twice this year, see more movies and do more goal setting in my profession life.  


In case you are curious, my books from 2013:

1. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
2. Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
3. Rise of the Governor by Robert Krikman
4. Road to Woodbury by Robert Kirkman
5. The Walking Dead: Second Compendium by Robert Kirkman
6. Perks of being a Wall Flower by Stephen Chbosky 
7. Heaven is For Real by Todd Burpo
8. 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman
9. Water for Elephants by sara gruen
10. Under the Dome by Stephen King
11. Sin Killer by Larry McMurtry
12. Friday night Knitting Club by kate jacobs
13. Hunger Games: Book 1 by Suzanne Collins 
14. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins 
15. Mocking Jay by Suzanne Collins 
16. The Chase by Clive Cussler
17. Killing Kennedy by Bill O'Reilly 
18. Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin
19. Street Lawyer by john grisham
20. Killing Linclon by Bill O'Reilly 
21. Knit 2 by kate jacobs
22. Two Rings by Millie Werber and Eve Keller
23. Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin 
24. Potty Training in One Day by Narmin Parpia
25. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold