That Extra 20 Pounds

12 Lbs Lighter, A Waffle Party, And A Superbowl Party

2012-02-06T13:47:00.000-08:00

Last Tuesday I FINALLY broke out of the 140's... I weighed in at 139 lbs for the first time in probably 5 years. Which means I've lost 12 lbs altogether!

Here is a sample of how I've been eating most days:

*Breakfast-
cup of coffee with cream,
Strawberry VitaShake,
scrambled egg

*Lunch-
1/2 turkey sandwich,
bell pepper slices dipped in ranch dressing,
blackberries,
raspberry Fortune Delight tea sweetened with stevia

*Snack-
celery with peanut butter

*Dinner-
szechuan chicken
broccoli
1/2 cup steamed rice
lime sparkling water

*Dessert-
Fun sized candy bar or 1 cookie.

Also have been doing my Zumba Fitness on the Wii 3 days a week.

Of course this weekend I got a little off track because Saturday and Sunday consisted of lots and lots of party food. Saturday night my sister had a Waffle Party at her place. Bacon, sausage, coffee, mimosas, scones, and homemade waffles with your choice of toppings including melted butter, homemade whipped cream, blueberry syrup, fresh strawberries, and other kinds of fruit. Followed by a fun game of Farkle. The waffles were so good!

Sunday was a Superbowl Party of course. I really don't follow football at all. But hey- I never turn down an invitation to a party! :) I made football-shaped Rice Krispies Treats, they didn't come out perfect but they were fun to eat!

There were all kinds of chips and dips, a veggie tray, frito pie, and strawberry margaritas. Because what is a Superbowl Party without junk food, right?

Did you go to a Superbowl Party this weekend?

Our First Trip to Florida And DisneyWorld!

2012-01-16T08:52:00.000-08:00

So we started out the first week of 2012 with both my husband and I getting the flu. Ugh! But the second week of 2012 was much better! We traveled to Florida for our first trip to DisneyWorld! Woohoo!!

We got a great deal on our trip, we stayed at the Port Orleans Riverside Resort which was running a special where you received the Disney Dining Plan for free, so all of our meals, drinks, and snacks were included! Which means we ate and drank our way through all the four DisneyWorld parks! :)

We had some amazing meals in the world showcase at Epcot... like teppanyaki in "Japan", filet mignon in "France", and brick oven pizza in "Italy". And of course a ton of Mickey Mouse shaped snacks at the Magic Kingdom!

Mickey Ice Cream Bar

Mickey Pretzel With Cheese

And of course the infamous Mickey Waffles!

We saw a bunch of neat animals at the Animal Kingdom Park!

Went on the Tower of Terror at Hollywood Studios, scary!! (We're on the left.)

We did a ton of walking, we averaged about 14 hours a day of walking! So we both came back with sore legs and seriously tired feet. But definitely worth it! We had a great time!!

End of 2011

2012-01-01T19:10:00.000-08:00

The end of the year has already come and gone. I've been making goals for 2012 and also have been thinking about what 2011 brought for me, here are a few of the highlights...

My Dramatic Breakup With Coffee
I love, love, love coffee! But 3 cups a day was starting to freak me out! I couldn't handle all that caffeine. Now it's strictly 1 cup a day, with an occasional extra cup of decaf which is working out quite nicely for me.

A Regular Exercise Routine... FINALLY!
I'm a huge fan of the Zumba Fitness game on the Wii and have been doing it 3 to 4 times a week for a couple of months now. So much fun and I'm glad to finally have a workout routine.

Vacations
This year I treated my husband, mom, and sister to a vacation at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. (Wish my dad could have gone too but he had to work.) We had a blast!

For our 7 Year Anniversary, my husband and I spent some time up in Sedona.

And of course our annual family vacation in Newport Beach.

Business Accomplishments.

I took a leap of faith this year and made some changes to how I run my Online Store and tried something new so I could work at it less, and it still did it's best year yet in sales. My business is growing exactly the way I envisioned it and I have so much more planned for 2012!

Friends and Family

This past year we had plenty of good times with our families, they're so important to us. We were also able to reconnect with a few old friends and make some awesome new friends too!

I loved this quote I found awhile back... part of it goes, "As we grow up, we don't lose friends, we just learn who the real ones are." I never put up many pictures of our friends here on my blog just in case they don't want their pictures on the internets (who wouldn't though ;) ) but Eric and I count ourselves very fortunate to have some wonderful friends and an awesome family who would be there for us in a heartbeat. And of course we would do the same for them!

I'm ready for yet another great year and look forward to reading about all of your adventures in 2012 in this great little community I like to call... the Blogosphere. :)

Life When You're Married To A Firefighter.

2011-12-28T06:59:00.000-08:00

So when you're married to a firefighter it's almost certain that if you both are invited to a fun event, you're husband WILL be working that day. Between the super random weekly schedule and the 24 hour long work shifts, it almost always works out that way. So when we got the invitation to a friend's wedding I immediately checked my calendar and, yep, he was scheduled to work that day.

Fortunately my husband's parents and sister were going to the wedding, so I wasn't completely alone. My sister came over before the wedding and did my makeup.

I had my reservations about going alone, but I'm so glad I did! It was a beautiful wedding!

Yummy food too! Turkey with cranberry sauce, ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, salad, and a roll. Mmm...

My husband works just down the street from where the wedding was so we ended up stopping by the station afterwards and said hi and he showed his parents and his sister around. A nice ending to a fun day!

***In weight loss news, I'm only three pounds from my goal! Yippee!!

Stuff I Love Right Now...

2011-12-20T11:21:00.000-08:00

LOVE my Zumba Fitness game on the Wii! I've been doing these workouts 4 times a week lately, so much fun and a workout that I will actually do!

LOVE Vanilla and Hazelnut Steamers as a substitute for coffee right now! My sister made me one and I got hooked. Steamed milk with vanilla or hazelnut syrup with a little foam on top. Yum! By the way I've gotten down to 1 cup of coffee each day, no problem! :)

LOVE making my own bars! I've seen some bloggers that make their own bars instead of buying the super processed ones from the store and I thought that was such a good idea! Last week I made Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Bars that turned out delish. Next time I want to make Oatmeal Raisin Bars.

Kicking The Coffee Habit

2011-12-13T07:33:00.000-08:00

It has been raining 24 hours straight, pretty much nonstop and I am loving it! Here in the desert, rain is pretty rare so when it happens it is all over the news and is all anyone talks about.

I have been really working on kicking my 3-cups-of-coffee-a-day habit for the last few days. My goal is 1 cup of coffee per day which have been doing... but hopefully it gets easier! It's hard on days like this when it's cold and rainy.

I savored my 1 cup of coffee this morning.

Followed by a big mug of hot Cinnamon Calli herbal tea.

How much coffee do you drink each day? Have any tasty substitutes for coffee?

First Annual Ugly Sweater Party

2011-12-02T10:58:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday my sister and I threw our First Annual Ugly Sweater Party. :) We had so much fun! We invited some friends over to wear the ugliest sweaters they could find, and the winner would get a Starbucks gift card. It was so funny seeing the sweaters our friends found! Here's Eric and I showing off our ugly sweaters, Eric's trying to look scared. Lol!

Here's my mom and dad.... I voted for my dad's sweater, I thought it was hilarious!
My sister Emily and I modeling our lovely sweaters.
The food... yummy appetizers!

And most importantly, the dessert! Emily made yummy vanilla cupcakes, I made Reese's Peanut Butter Cup cookies, and we had a gigantic chocolate bar too. With mint and jasmine hot tea to sip!

After we ate, we all voted on the ugliest sweater, the winner was our friend who wore a sweater with cats all over it! ;)

After the vote, we played Dance Central. So much fun!!

We had a great night with some good friends! I really am trying to have more people over for different things. It's so much fun to get together!

Perfect Weather and Cranberry Chicken Salad Recipe

2011-11-18T10:45:00.000-08:00

The weather has been beautiful here in Phoenix the last few weeks. Warm and sunny during the day and cool but not too cool at night.

Perfect weather for watching movies in the park...

Perfect weather for Peppermint Mocha's! Mmm...

And perfect weather for ugly sweater shopping for an upcoming Ugly Sweater Party. We laughed so hard at some the sweaters we found! People actually wear this stuff???

I've lost a couple of pounds lately thanks to my Zumba for the Wii and trying to eat smaller portions. That makes for a total of 8 pounds lost. I'm trying for 4 more!

Made some delicious chicken salad with cranberries for lunches for the weekend.

Cranberry Chicken Salad

Cook 4 chicken breasts in:

1 quart water

1/4 cup grated celery,

1/4 cup grated carrots,

1/8 cup grated red onion

1 minced garlic clove.

Boil until chicken is thoroughly cooked. Take chicken out of broth, set aside, and let cool.

Shred chicken and place in a bowl with:

1 1/2 celery stalks chopped

1 TBSP red onion chopped

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1/8 cup chopped walnuts.

Stir in mayonnaise by the tablespoon until mixture is well coated.

I love eating this chicken salad with crackers, on a sandwich, or wrapped in lettuce if I'm watching the carbs. So good!!

Zumba Fitness

2011-11-01T13:33:00.000-07:00

We finally booked our flights to go to Florida in January! This has been a trip that we've been wanting to take for awhile, but it never worked out. Until now... finally! Having a vacation to look forward to always motivates me to want to lose a few pounds. And I like to take advantage of that motivation. :)

Last month I saw that Amazon was having a sale on Zumba Fitness for the Wii so I thought I would give it a try! It has finally gotten me into a good exercise routine. I've been having so much fun doing it, I love it! :)

It comes with a little belt that you put the Wii remote on and you wear it while you do the workouts.

The music is so fun and energizing! I've never been a very good dancer, and this game just reinforces it, haha! But I'm moving and having a good time so that makes me happy! :)

My Workout Goals For November:

* 4 Zumba workouts each week.

* 1 hike each week.

I've been noticing such a difference in how I feel now that I'm regularly working out. More energy and just generally in a better mood! And that makes me want to exercise even more!! Now if I can just start eating a little better! ;)

The Little Town Of Williams

2011-10-11T21:44:00.000-07:00

This past weekend my husband and I both had a couple of days off together so we decided to take a last minute road trip up to the small town of Williams, AZ where my husband's parents are building a house. Now Williams is a tiny town with a population of only 3,000 people. So when you go there, you're really getting away from everything. :) It was the perfect weekend to go up! Blue skies and warm weather the whole time.

At night it cooled off quite a bit so we made a nice campfire to keep us warm. We hung out by the fire all evening, chatted it up with Eric's parents, and looked up at the stars.

We slept in the next morning and then we got up and went out to breakfast. It always amazes me that the smallest towns always have the best restaurants for breakfast! I've tried so many restaurants in Phoenix for breakfast that don't even come close to this place... The Pine Country Restaurant.

Eric ordered the Country Breakfast... Eggs, the BEST potatoes, bacon, sausage...

and a huge biscuit with gravy on the side.
I ordered the French Toast with a side of bacon and nibbled on Eric's potatoes too. Mmmm!!!

After breakfast we did a little work, went on a walk, and kicked back with the inlaws dogs! I thoroughly enjoyed unplugging and being away from the computer, the internet, tv, and all that stuff. The perfect weekend in the tiny little town of Williams.

I'm Small Town.

2011-09-14T07:41:00.000-07:00

The city has been getting to me lately. Traffic, pollution, cranky people everywhere. Not to mention the extremely warm weather we've been getting. Then throw in the fact that we've been getting no rain at all. No rain storms, just dust storms every week! Blah!

I was raised in the city until I was 10 years old. From then on, my family and I lived in 2 different small towns in Arizona. When my husband and I got married, I moved here. We live in the busiest part of the city, close to downtown. I really miss living in a small town! So Monday when my husband got off work we went on a little one night trip to a nearby small town. And we went on a hike, you know, with actual trees and fresh air! It was beautiful!

Grassy meadows...

trees...

and creeks!

We came back yesterday afternoon to the cranky old city and I was a little sad. But to my surprise, as the evening came it actually cooled down to the mid 70's and rained! I watched the rain outside my office window...

Now this morning it's kind of cool and cloudy! It actually feels a bit like Fall weather.

I really wish we could have a little place in the country that we could escape to. But for now, I will try to find the beauty in where we live, I'm sure it's here somewhere, haha! :)

Which do you prefer? The big city or small towns?

Long Weekend of a little cooking and alot of eating out.

2011-09-07T13:08:00.000-07:00

Well after the long weekend, I weighed myself today and fortunately only gained 1/2 a pound. Which is a miracle in itself with the way I ate! ;)

Saturday my friend invited my sister and I to her house to swim. She made us chips and guacamole and the yummiest strawberry margaritas and we just snacked and floated around the pool. It was so relaxing!

For some reason my husband decided to take me out to eat almost every day that he had off work! I feel like we ate our way through Phoenix all weekend, lol! We went out for italian on Sunday, to a movie at the new dine-in theatre with lunch on Monday, and then last night we went out for filet mignon. But I did manage to cook a little bit too.

One thing I've been adding into my diet is either a Cocoa or Strawberry VitaShake. My favorite one is the Cocoa VitaShake that I put in a blender with peanut butter, almond milk, and a banana. It tastes like a chocolate peanut butter milk shake, yum!

Friday night I made a new recipe from Growing Towards A Dream's blog for Thai Coconut Red Curry Shrimp. We loved it!
And for Sunday lunch, I made Bbq Chicken with Orzo Pasta Salad.

Bbq Chicken-

Preheat convection oven to 375 degrees. Add a splash of canola oil to cookie sheet, lay out thawed chicken breast tenderloins on cookie sheet. Season with salt and pepper. Bake covered with foil for about 15 minutes. Baste chicken breasts with bbq sauce and cook uncovered 5 more minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Orzo Pasta Salad

combine:

cooked orzo

arugula

dried cranberries or cherries

pine nuts

basil

olive oil

fresh lemon juice

salt/pepper

We loved this pasta salad for something different!

Tonight I'm making chicken with rice soup with french bread and butter and taking it over to my mom's house, she's been sick for a few days with a chest cold and I hope it will make her feel a little better.

Excessive heat warning alert!

2011-09-01T11:38:00.000-07:00

It's been as hot as blazes outside. There has been an excessive heat warning for like 12 days in a row with temps anywhere between 109 and 117 degrees. I'm so over summer, but there's no end in sight yet! To stay hydrated and cool, I've been drinking a ton of this sparkling water that my husband and I recently discovered, La Croix. My favorite flavors are the grapefruit and the lime flavor. No sugar, no artificial stuff, just sparkling water. Mmm...

I made a pasta salad with chicken that was really good. I made my own dressing this time (I usually use the bottled stuff) and it really made a difference!

Chicken Pasta Salad

For the dressing, whisk together:

2 TBSP apple cider vinegar
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 cup olive oil

For the pasta salad, combine in a large bowl:

bowtie pasta
cooked chicken breast
red onion
cheese
green and red bell pepper
baby spinach
celery
carrots
zucchini
olives

Add dressing and mix together.

I was able to lose 4 pounds in August which was good news to me! Hopefully I can do 4 more in September! I have lots of healthy food in the refrigerator to help me out!

I was featured on Snap Happy Photography's blog today, she interviewed me and asked me all kinds of questions about me and my online business.

Check out her lady of the month spotlight interview with me right here.

High Tea and Less Coffee

2011-08-22T13:36:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things to do is to go out for high tea at one of the local resorts, The Phoenician, and nibble on little sandwiches, scones, and hot tea. So this past weekend I made my own high tea at home. I made some scones that were delicious and bought a jar of Lemon Curd and Orange Marmalade go with the scones. They were so good!!

Dessert Scones-

2 cups flour

1/3 cup sugar

1 TBS baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

6 TBS cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1 large egg

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1 tsp grated orange zest

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Use a large ungreased baking sheet. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. But the butter in with 2 knives until the larges pieces are the size of peas and the rest resembles breadcrumbs. Do not allow the butter to melt.

Whisk together the egg and heavy cream, then add to dry ingredients. Mix until moistened. Form the dough into a ball and knead it gently again bowl 5 to 10 times. Transfer dough to lightly floured surface and pat dough into a 8 inch round about 3/4 inch thick. Cut into 8 to 12 inches and place 1/2 inch apart on baking sheet. Crush the tops with a little milk and bake until top gets brown, about 8 to 10 mins.

They were so good served with lemon curd and a pot of Jasmine tea! Yum!

I've been really trying to cut back on the coffee! I normally have 2 cups in the morning and 1 cup in the afternoon but lately it's been making me feel all jittery and dehydrated. So I've been doing just 1 cup in the morning lately and feeling much better.
Last week I had a really hard time... like major caffeine withdrawal, but now I'm feeling much better! So hopefully I can stick to it! :)

Great weekend!

2011-08-11T09:51:00.000-07:00

Hope you all had a great weekend! My weekend flew by, can't believe it's already Monday!! On Saturday my mom and I went to a meeting to see the founder of the company that I market products for on my Healthy Fast Food Store. He was visiting from California and usually comes to Phoenix once a year.

We went to the AZ Biltmore for the meeting.

Here's me and my mom after it was over! It was nice to spend the afternoon with her!

Last week I cooked a couple of meals at home. Chicken Masala with rice and broccoli... I love that dish!!

I also made two chicken pot pies, one for us and one for a friend who has been sick. The pies turned out awesome!!

I'm trying to start out my week with a healthy kick to it. I worked out for 30 minutes this morning and had a smoothie with mango, banana, strawberries, and a scoop of Nuplus in it. Yum!!

Now I'm just drinking some herbal tea, listening to classical music, and sending out emails.

Something I've been thinking about is that I would really like to try to focus on is making our life as stress-free as possible. I know some stress is inevitable, but alot of things just aren't worth the worry and stress. So that's something I'm working on! Listening to classical music is very relaxing to me. Other stress-relievers for us are exercising, cooking, hiking, riding bikes, doing things with friends, and playing with our inlaws dogs. They're so cute! :)

"Stress is an ignorant state. It believes that everything is an emergency. Nothing is that important. Just lie down." — Natalie Goldberg

What are some of your stress relievers??

July Recap

2011-08-04T07:43:00.000-07:00

So... I guess I pretty much took the whole month of July off of blogging. But I've missed blogging and so hopefully will be able to get back into a routine of regular posts!

How was your July? We had a great month, we left the 112 degree weather here in Arizona and went to cool off in Southern California for 10 days!

We started out our vacation with a visit to Downtown Disney for dessert and fireworks! We love the fireworks over Disneyland!

The next day we did some shopping and booked a Sunset Whale Watching Cruise in Dana Point. We had a blast! The views of the ocean were incredible!

We saw a Sea Lion that was sunning himself, so cute!

And after two hours of looking, we saw Blue Whales!

It was quite a trip on that boat! A couple of other passengers and I ended up getting a bit seasick because the water was so rough! And it was super windy!! This is pretty much how my hair looked for the entire boat ride, ha ha!!

After our little two day trip we joined the rest of our family for seven days at Newport Beach! That week was filled with long walks on the beach...

amazing sunsets....

treats on the boardwalk like my favorite frozen bananas covered in chocolate and peanuts...

And just hanging out at the beach with family!

On our way home we decided to drive through San Diego for lunch at one of our favorite restaurants... Anthony's!

We ordered some of the best shrimp, fries, crab salad, and bread around and enjoyed our lunch with these beautiful views of the water.

All in all a great trip! :)

Now just trying to get back to healthy eating, a weekly exercise routine, and some new goals! Hope everyone is enjoying their summer!

June's over

2011-07-01T12:46:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe it's already July 1st! June was so busy, it just flew by! After we got back from our anniversary trip, I took some continuing education classes. Every two years it's required that I take 24 hours of classes to renew my license, so I'm glad to be done for the next 2 years! I was really happy with the classes I took and I can't wait to use everything I learned!!

Then last weekend we went to Tucson for 4 days. We went to a convention...

...and tried out a few restaurants around town every evening. One night we went with my parents to one of our favorite mexican restaurants in Tucson... El Charro!

And then one night went to Pinnacle Peak Steakhouse with some friends. This place was so good! It was right in the middle of a little western town in Tucson. Very cute!!

After dinner our friends took their kids on the little train that goes around the whole western town. We snapped their picture as they went by us!

Three things I'm excited about right now:

1. In June I sold the most products on my Online Store that I've EVER sold in one month! Yay!!

2. I've lost 4 pounds. (I'm going to try to lose 4 more over the next couple of weeks)

3. I will be spending 8 days in Newport Beach in July!! I can't wait!!!

Chinese Salad Dressing Recipe

2011-06-27T13:06:00.000-07:00

Last week we went out for dinner and my husband ordered a Chinese Salad with Chicken... it was $14 which I thought was a little steep for just a salad!! So yesterday I tried out a recipe for Chinese salad dressing that I found on BlogChef and it was awesome. It tasted exactly like the salad dressing they used at the restaurant, I had to share!

Chinese Salad Dressing Recipe
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1/4 cup canola oil
3 Tbsp rice vinegar

Here's a picture of the salad I made yesterday....

I just used what I already had in the refrigerator... lettuce, green onions, chicken, and toasted sesame seeds. But I would also like to add in some carrots, crispy chow mein noodles, and almonds next time, it would make it even more amazing!

The New Yorker

2011-06-22T07:10:00.000-07:00

Been losing some weight the last couple of weeks! I've been cooking at home a ton, eating very little carbs, and all the other fun stuff that goes with trying to drop a few pounds. But then yesterday my husband and I went out to dinner and had this...

This is the New Yorker sandwich and a half.... hot pastrami, coleslaw, and thier special dressing on a gigantic kaiser roll! My hubby and I shared it but after a couple weeks of not eating so many carbs lately I felt like I had a bowling ball in my stomach last night. Ever feel like you can throw all your weight loss out the window with just one meal???

7 Year Anniversary In Sedona

2011-06-09T08:02:00.000-07:00

We just got back yesterday from celebrating our 7 year anniversary! We celebrated by taking a trip to beautiful Sedona, Arizona. If you've never been to Sedona, I definitely recommend a visit.

We took in all the stunning views of red rocks...

And enjoyed a beautiful day hike on West Fork Trail surrounded by so many trees...

and several creek crossings along the hike.

We ate some awesome food...

And stayed at a gorgeous cottage right by Oak Creek.

I always judge a hotel by their in-room coffee! I approved of this one... :)

The outdoor cedar shower was really neat too!

I can't believe it's already been 7 years!

So glad that I married my best friend!! :)

Already June!!

2011-06-02T11:13:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited that June has arrived! Here's what this month brings for me...

1. our 7 year wedding anniversary,

2. a trip to Sedona,

3. Three continuing education courses (chair massage, stretching, and face lift accupressure),

4. A trip to Tucson for a 3 day District Convention.

Hopefully June will also bring weight loss. Specifically, 5 pounds of weight loss! :) Got in a workout this morning! That was my 3rd workout this week so far... I'm trying for 5. Now I'm enjoying a glass of Peach Fortune Delight Herbal Tea over ice. So good! :)

My car has been in the paint shop for the last couple of weeks so my sister has been nice enough to drive me around on days that my husband is at work. On Tuesday we ran some errands together and then made a stop at La Grande Orange. I ordered a Strawberry Italian Soda and she ordered a Perrier and we munched on their sourdough english muffin with PB & J as a afternoon snack.

This is like the BEST PB&J sandwich you will ever have. :)

We enjoyed the warm afternoon out in the Java Garden.

Today for lunch I made an awesome taco salad from leftovers that I had in the fridge! The only way I've ever had taco salad is with ground beef, but I made it will lime grilled chicken and it was even better than with ground beef!

EASY Chicken Taco Salad

You'll need:
*grilled chicken seasoned with lime juice, garlic powder, salt and pepper,
*lettuce,
*tomatoes,
*serranos,
*shredded cheese,
*salsa,
*small dollop of sour cream,
*beans,
*lime,
*tortilla chips

Assemble salad with chicken, veggies, and toppings. Squeeze lime juice over entire salad. Crunch up a small handful of tortilla chips on top.

Cute little guys.

2011-05-24T08:58:00.000-07:00

This morning I walked out on my back patio with my cup of coffee and noticed that I have two little tomatoes growing...

and one lonely jalepeno...

I'm not sure when these little guys popped up, but I thought they were so cute!! Anyone want to stop by for a very SMALL serving of salsa and chips? In about a month? ;)

Also... I'm trying to simplify all my social media stuff. I've decided that I have wayyyy too many blogs and facebook pages going on, haha!

I'm deleting my old Facebook Page for this blog so if you want to connect with me on Facebook and see my blog updates on there, you can find me at Sunny's Healthy Fast Food Store . Be sure and click LIKE while you're there! Also deleting my Sunny In Arizona blog and will just be posting everything right here. :)

So here ya go... my links!!

*my facebook page: www.Facebook.com/HealthyFastFoodStore

*my personal blog: www.ThatExtra20Pounds.blogspot.com

*my online store blog: www.HealthyFastFoodStore.blogspot.com

*twitter: www.Twitter.com/SunnyLMT

Chicken, chicken, chicken... two new recipes!!

2011-05-22T07:38:00.000-07:00

Lost another pound last week... a little slow going but I'll take it! :) I've been making alot of smoothies since the weather here has warmed up so nicely! My favorite one lately has been this version of a green smoothie... I named it Popeye's Spinach Smoothie! ;)

I posted the recipe on my online store blog HERE. I made one for my sister and she looked at me like I was nuts! But once she tasted it she liked it. Though I don't know if I have her completely sold on the idea of a green smoothie, lol!

Since the husband and I are both trying to lose some weight before summer and are trying to eat out less, we bought a major 10 pound bag of frozen chicken breasts at Costco last week!

So we've been eating chicken, chicken, chicken... nothing but chicken (well, except for when we went out for pizza on Thursday night, haha!)

I made Szechuan Chicken one night, a recipe I found on Kelly's Healthified Kitchen blog.

You can check out her Szechuan Chicken recipe HERE, it's amazing!! Restaurant-worthy, really. I added in some white onions, sliced carrots, and celery when I made it, yum!!

I also found an awesome recipe for Honey Chicken that I made last night. Not the healthiest dish I guess, but DELISH!

Click on this link for Blog Chef's Recipe For Honey Chicken. The only tweaks we made were when making the sauce, we added a bit more Rice Vinegar, honey, and also a little soy sauce. And green onions on top! LOVED it!! Mmm...

I'm hoping for a great week of weight loss this coming week! Happy Sunday!

My Mom's Weight Loss

2011-05-10T11:13:00.000-07:00

So far this week... one pound lost, nine more to go! ;) Summer is coming quickly so I'm trying to get back on the weight loss wagon. My plan is to follow the same plan my mom follows which has helped her lose over 40 pounds and keep it off for the last several years.

Here is a picture of my mom with her sisters in 2005, this is probably her at her heaviest....

And here is a picture of her with me and my sister from last week's trip to Las Vegas, over 40 pounds lighter...

Doesn't she look great?!! I'm so proud of her! To take off weight is hard, to keep it off is even harder! The plan she follows is one small serving of carbs (the size of the palm of her hand) at each meal along with protein and fruits/veggies and she rarely eats fast food. She also takes Metashaper ,drinks alot of Fortune Delight Tea every day, and does tons of walking! Way to go Mom!!

I'm going to work at following her plan as closely as possible until I take off this extra 10 pounds that has snuck up on me. :)

Grocery Shopping, Meals For The Week, And An Awesome Oatmeal Concoction!

2011-04-20T12:34:00.000-07:00

After a crazy busy week last week, I finally have time to breathe. And blog. And grocery shop!

Here's a picture of my collection of fresh fruit for the week that I got this morning at Trader Joe's. I already had an apple with lunch, it was amazing! I love pink lady apples!

My plan for meals this week is:

*Sesame Noodles with Chicken,

*Greek Salad with Chicken,

*Orange Chicken, Broccoli, Rice,

*Uncured Hot Dogs, Zucchini Spears, Chips & Guacamole,

*Angel Hair Pasta With Lemon and Garlic, Chicken, Zucchini.

And I really need to get in at least 3 workouts this week. Last week I only worked out once.

Check out an awesome oatmeal concoction that I found in the blogosphere that I'm currently obsessed with...

Steel cut oats, a spoonful of natural peanut butter, a sprinkle of coconut, and a bit of chocolate shavings. This makes a very tasty breakfast and keeps me full until lunch! Try it, you'll love it!

Monday's Food In Pictures

2011-04-04T20:28:00.000-07:00

One of my goals for April is to take pictures of all my food on Mondays and Thursdays and post them here in my blog! But I'm kind of embarassed of my breakfast today... pizza! We had leftover pizza from one of my favorite restaurants, Grimaldi's Pizzeria, that Eric and I went to last night. So yes, I had pizza for breakfast! :) But really really good pizza, so it was worth it!

And my usual coffee with half & half of course to keep me going.

After my pizza breakfast, I worked out for 30 minutes. Did some cleaning around the house (my kitchen counters were covered with dishes and pans). I opted for a lighter lunch since I had such a heavy breakfast. I made a quick scrambled egg and had a few gigantic strawberries too.

My husband has a weird work schedule as a firefighter, he works most weekends. I try to match my work schedule with his as much as possible so we can have time off together. So even though today was Monday, it actually was the start of our weekend. So after lunch, we went to the movies for a matinee and saw Limitless. We got popcorn and Coke to munch on during the movie. So yeah, not the healthiest by a long shot. But fun!

After the movie we went shopping for some summer clothes. Then we stopped in at my parents house and had coffee and chatted with them. We came home and Eric made dinner (yay!). I was just not in the mood to cook. He made Bool Kogi, rice, and a veggie stir fry. Very good! Now I'm just kicking back with a cup of Calli Tea and stevia. It's a beautiful night out!

April Goals

2011-03-31T16:19:00.000-07:00

Spring is definitely here in Arizona, in fact it's almost feeling like summer... 92 degrees today! So I'm making some goals for April because that dumb "winter weight" has crept on me again. I would like to lose at least 7 pounds asap! When I write that out it doesn't sound like much, but I'm short and 7 pounds really does make a difference on me!

My April Exercise Goals-
1) 2 days/week- 10,000 steps on pedometer= total 8
2) 2 days/week- 30 minute workout= total 8

My April Food Goals-
1) Plan at least 4 homemade dinners per week.
2) Lower carbs.
3) Start making my smoothies for breakfast again.
4) Veggies with each meal.
5) Post all pics of food for the day on my blog on Mondays and Thursdays (it helps me eat better!).

Here's to April!! :) P.S.- You can check out my latest post on my other blog,Sunny In Arizona and read about our relaxing trip to a local vineyard.

Tuesday's Food In Pictures

2011-03-23T16:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I decided that I would take pictures of and post all of my food and drinks for the day as a way of trying to get back on track! I have to say that when you know that everything you eat will be seen on your blog, it does help you think twice before you eat! :)

I started off my day with my two cups of coffee with half & half.

I decided to work out for 30 minutes, so before my workout I made a Nuplus Shake with 4 oz orange juice, 2 oz of unsweetened vanilla almond milk, and 1 scoop of Naturally Plain Nuplus.

After my workout I made a quick scrambled egg with a little ketchup on the side.

I was able to get all of my emails sent out for the morning with payment instructions for my customers who had placed orders overnight. Then I headed to Trader Joe's to do my grocery shopping! After I got back, I made 1/2 turkey and cheese sandwich and some green grapes for lunch.

My sister stopped by in the afternoon and we chatted over coffee and banana bread.

Mid afternoon I had to run some errands so I made my Peach Fortune Delight Slimming Tea with 8 drops of Stevia to-go in my reusable Starbucks cup!

After I got home from my errands, I was ready for a snack! So I had a rice cake with natural peanut butter on top! Yum!!

And for dinner I made Chicken, Rice, and Veggie Soup with French Bread and butter. I had two helpings of the bread, I never can resist good bread!!

And later in the evening as I was watching TV, I snacked on some hot air popped popcorn with cheese...

and some blueberries!!

My conclusion after seeing my day of eating in pictures.... I drink alot of coffee and eat alot of carbs! :)

Eating Garbage

2011-03-21T19:10:00.000-07:00

I feel like I've been eating all kinds of garbage this month. We've been eating out so much that it's not even funny.

In the last 10 days alone we've gone out to eat for...
* pizza 2x
* a steak dinner
* chinese takeout 2x
* chili dogs
* burger king
* chinese dine-in
* bbq

And that's just what I can remember. Terrible, terrible! So tonight I'm making a grocery list, I'm SO ready to eat some good, simple meals at home. I miss cooking and I miss real, live food! It's amazing the lack of nutritional value in restaurants and in fast food. Makes me feel yucky!

On a positive note though, I did workout last week! I did three 30 minute workouts and felt great after all of them! Trying to get back into a routine... cooking, working out, and blogging. They're all an important part of my maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Because I know junk food grows a junk body!

How often do you eat out? I think we've eaten out almost every day this month. Crazy!!!

I've started a new blog!

2011-03-05T07:51:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited, I started up a new blog! I love blogging so much, but lately I've been feeling like my weight loss one has been limiting. Because I don't want to think about weight loss 24/7... that's just not fun!! :)

I will still be posting on here hopefully once a week with my weight loss goals, progress, and recipes but plan on writing alot on my new blog too! I would love to have you come follow me: www.SunnyInArizona.blogspot.com

Thanks!! Hope you have a great weekend!

Spicy Sesame Noodles with Chicken!

2011-02-28T07:14:00.000-08:00

Such a gorgeous day here in AZ today, tons of sunshine and warm! I can't believe it's March already, crazy!! My mom and I wrapped up our 10 Day Slimming Tea Challenge, no soda and are thinking of doing another one soon because we had several people that said they would have liked to join us on our 10 Day Challenge. My mom and I both were talking this morning when we went out to breakfast about how great we've felt since doing the challenge and how we still have really cut back on soda since the challenge ended. Yay us!! :)

I made a recipe for Spicy Sesame Noodles with Chicken last week and loved it. So what did I do? I made it three times for dinner in the past two weeks. With each meal having enough for leftovers for lunch the next day. Which means that in the past two weeks, I've eaten this dish 6 times! Obsessed much? LOL! :) So yeah, for now I'm good on this dish right now, but I'm going to add it into my favorite recipes because it was SO good!

Click for the link to the SPICY SESAME NOODLES RECIPE on For The Love Of Cooking's Blog. Yum!! And see how many times in two weeks you end up making it! :)

I really need to set some goals for working out soon. I'm just kind of afraid to exercise right now, my husband just got sick on Sunday night with the nasty fever and cough that everyone seems to have right now. I don't want to get sick!! So I'm trying to be careful right now, taking it easy and drinking lots of tea and shakes. We'll see!!

Day 9- Chinese Food

2011-02-16T16:55:00.000-08:00

Today for lunch I stopped in at one of my favorite Chinese restaurants and got General Tso's Chicken. Instead of the usual Coke that I would have had with lunch along with 1 (or maybe even 2) free refills, I brought in my Raspberry Tea and poured it over ice. I figure that I probably saved about 240 to 360 calories just by not having a couple of Coke's with my lunch!! :)

Day 9- 10 Day Slimming Tea Challenge, No Soda!!

Day 8

2011-02-15T17:17:00.001-08:00

Have you ever seen the movie, "Julie & Julia"? Everytime I watch that movie I have the urge to cook and to EAT!! :) The Bruschetta Julie makes in the movie looks amazing so today I made some. Turned out delicious!! I think I got the french bread a touch too toasty (see burnt edges) but actually didn't taste the burn at all. :)

Well it's Day 8 of our 10 Day Slimming Tea Challenge (no soda!) and it's flown by. I'm really surprised that I have not wanted Coke at ALL. I mean at all! Yippee!! Today I spent alot of time updating my website, I added an About Me page. I figured it would be a great way for my customers to get to know us better. Check it out HERE if you would like.

Day 8

Day 7 Slimming Tea Challenge and Hanging Out With My Sister

2011-02-14T18:28:00.000-08:00

Day 7 of our 10 Day Slimming Tea Challenge (no soda!). My sister came over this morning for breakfast since she had the day off. After breakfast, I did a little work in my office. I had a couple of orders on my Online Store to pack and ship and some emails I needed to send to customers. After I was done, we made a quick stop at the Post Office so I could mail off my orders and the rest of the day for fun! So we drove around, did some shopping, and then back to my house for a movie. Emily and I always have tons of fun whatever we do and pretty much laugh the whole time! :)

Check out her blog: www.miss-em-scissorhands.blogspot.com

Day 7

Day 6 Slimming Tea Challenge- My Old Lady Rocking Chair

2011-02-13T18:22:00.000-08:00

Day 6- 10 Day Slimming Tea Challenge(no soda!) Today was another gorgeous day, sunny and warm. So I enjoyed my Fortune Delight tea (raspberry flavor) this evening out on the back patio in one of my new rocking chairs, sipping it out of my reusable Starbucks cup. I kind of feel old ladyish when I'm sitting in my rocking chairs, but I just love them!! :)

Day 6

Day 5 Slimming Tea Challenge And A Morning At The Farmers Market

2011-02-13T17:34:00.000-08:00

Day 5 of our 10 Day Slimming Tea Challenge (no soda!) was spent at a local Farmer's Market. It was a beautiful day outside, sunny and 76 degrees! Perfect!!

Day 5

There were so many local vendors at this market and they were all offering free samples. :)

My sister bought some grapefruit and tangelos that smelled amazing and I bought a bottle of hot Habenero salsa. Then it was time for lunch! We each bought homemade tamales, mine was a red chili pork tamale and my sister had a green corn tamale. So good!!

Then after we ate, I spotted a food truck selling crepes!! They looked so good and crepes count as dessert right? ;) So I bought a crepe filled with jam. Delish!!

There were so many things I would have loved to buy at the market yesterday... freshly baked french bread, locally made goat cheese, grass fed beef, etc. But that just gives me a reason to go back next week.

Day 3- 10 Day Slimming Tea Challenge

2011-02-10T15:38:00.000-08:00

Day 3- Slimming Tea Challenge (no soda!!)

I hung out with my cousin's little girls today! I needed to drink my Fortune Delight just to keep up with them, they have tons of energy!! They're so fun!

Not sure what I'm going to do for dinner tonight. I have pasta to make or chinese chicken salad but what I really feel like doing is going out... for barbeque!!! :)

Vegetable Hummus Pita Pizza Recipe And Day 2 Of 10 Day Slimming Tea Challenge

2011-02-09T11:59:00.000-08:00

Today I tried a new recipe for lunch and loved it! Vegetable And Hummus Pita Pizza. I loved how easy it was to make.

Ingredients:
1 Zucchini sliced
1/2 Red Onion Sliced
1 Tomato sliced
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
Lavash or Flat Pita
Hummus

In a saucepan, heat olive oil. Add red onion, zucchini, and tomato slices, season with salt and pepper and cook until veggies just start to soften.

Warm pita. Spread a thin layer of hummus over pita. Top with onion, zucchini, and tomato slices. Cut into trangles with pizza cutter.

Yum!!

Today is Day 2 of my 10 Day Slimming Tea Challenge. No soda at all and replacing it with Fortune Delight Tea. So far not missing soda at all! And I had so much energy yesterday, in fact I was cleaning out and organizing my super messy office at 8pm. Usually by that time I'm asleep on the couch in front of the tv! :)

Day 2: 146.2 lbs

Day 1 Slimming Tea Challenge

2011-02-08T14:32:00.000-08:00

So today starts a 10 Day Slimming Tea Challenge that I'm doing with my mom. 10 days of absolutely no soda and 10 days of drinking lots of our Fortune Delight Tea. I'm excited!!

Day 1: 146.6 lbs.

I made my tea today while I was at my sister's hair salon waiting while she cut my husband's hair. See them in the background? :)

Rules, Rules, Rules!

2011-02-01T11:19:00.000-08:00

I've made a few rules for myself that I've really been working on lately. Thought I'd share them!!

Rule #1- Plan and cook meals for goodness sakes!
Here's what I've found... if I don't plan ahead and cook dinner, 50% of the time we head out for fast food. And it's always a disappointment. The other 50% of the time we will go to a restaurant, and most of the time it doesn't taste that great either. The food we cook at home tastes SO much better! Always!! So far this week, I made a Chicken Pasta Salad...

Tonight will be Chicken Pot Pie, tomorrow is Szechuan Chicken with broccoli, and the next night is Chicken Skewers, Salad, and Sweet Potato Fries. I'm all set!!

Rule #2- Don't buy any premade sweets or desserts. None! No packaged cookies, muffins, or candy that I can reach for at any time of the day or night. If I want a dessert, I need to make an effort. So over the weekend I wasn't wanting all kinds of goodies. But since I didn't have them in the house, I had to settle for fruit. :) Then finally yesterday, I had some time to make homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Awesome! The only problem I'm having is now there's a bunch of cookie dough in the house and I made more cookies today. So I need to give the rest of the cookies away to friends and family immediately!! :)

Rule #3- Don't buy any soda at the grocery store and don't keep any soda at home! If I want a Coke, I have to buy a single serving out. Like from McDonalds or something. (McDonalds has the BEST Coke around. Not sure why!!) So when I'm at home, I've been drinking lots of this new tea mixture....

1 Tea Bag of Calli Tea Regular Flavor, 1 Packet Peach Fortune Delight , added to a pitcher of water! So I'm drinking plants, fruits, and herbs. Much better than soda.

So these rules have been helping me! Old habits die hard, but I'm working on making lasting changes.

Greek Salad and Burgers

2011-01-26T08:56:00.000-08:00

We have been enjoying some amazing weather here in Arizona lately! Lots of sunshine and 70 degrees! Since it's been so nice out, I've started working on decorating our patio and just bought 2 rocking chairs. I've been wanting some for a long time and found these online and just fell in love with them. I have alot more work to do out there, finding these chairs was just the beginning!

I made a nice big Greek Salad with chicken the other day and have been eating that for the last couple of days. I think that's one of my favorite salads to make. So flavorful and filling.

My Favorite Greek Salad;
romaine lettuce
sliced carrots
sliced celery
sliced cucumber
sliced green bell pepper
sliced red onion
feta cheese
grilled chicken

Greek Salad Dressing:
1/2 cup olive oil
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 clove minced garlic
1 tbsp oregano
salt and pepper

Then last night my mom and dad had me over for... chili burgers!! Oh man, they were so good!

Some days it's a good day to eat a salad... some days it's a good day to eat a chili burger!

Dog sitting, lost a pound, and zucchini french fries!

2011-01-13T08:31:00.000-08:00

I'm tired!! My husband and I have been watching my inlaws little puppy... first on Saturday all day and now today all day. I've never had a dog, or any type of pet for that matter. But I realize now how much work they are! He looks all innocent and sleepy in this picture, but he has alot of energy. And very sharp little teeth!! Lol!

I did well all week on my eating plan and even lost a pound! 1 down, 4 more to go!! But then this weekend, I got a little off the plan. Sunday, my sister and I went out for breakfast and things got a little bit out of control! Between us, we shared pancakes, bacon, sausage, eggs, and 2 biscuits and gravy. I'm still full! Here's a pic I stole from my sister's blog post of me and my gigantic breakfast. :)

I did find a nice healthy snack though. I called them Zucchini French Fries. They were very tasty!! I wrapped them in wax paper and served them in a shot glass to make them look pretty!

Zucchini French Fries

Slice 2 zucchini lengthwise to look like french fries. Heat 1 tbsp of canola oil in pan, add zucchini and cook on stove on high until they start to get tender. Season with garlic salt, salt and pepper, cook for 1 minute. Serve.

My goal for this week is to lose another pound (or two pounds would be just fine!!) I need to add in some exercise this week!!

Salads and Goals!

2011-01-07T07:02:00.000-08:00

Lately I've been on a bit of a salad kick! I found a new salad recipe on my new go-to blog for recipes For The Love of Cooking . Honestly, there hasn't been anything I've made from this blog that I haven't liked! It's great! So I tried out her (click on link for the recipe) Spinach and Avocado Salad with homemade vinaigrette... YUM!! I love baby spinach, so this was just up my alley!

I've made some goals for myself, I'm going to work towards losing 5 lbs right now... I really need to! That winter weight has come back to visit. And then after I reach that goal, if I could lose another 5, well that would be just lovely! But for now just worried about the first 5!

So... going to do three 20 minute workouts each week, going to cook at home at least 4 days per week, try for lower carbs at meals, and of course, write on my blog, which always seems to help!!

End of the year

2010-12-31T07:00:00.000-08:00

This morning I've been spending some time looking over my blog posts from 2010. I'm so happy with the things I accomplished this past year and the changes I've made in my life. I feel like I'm exactly where I want to be. A few highlights....

1. I've cooked more. Alot more! This year I found myself planning meals and trying out new recipes that I found on some awesome blogs. Cooking and trying out recipes have become kind of a hobby of mine now. A healthy hobby, yay!!

2. Smoothies. This year I started making alot of smoothies for breakfast. Which meant alot more fresh fruit in my diet and even veggies when I added spinach, zucchini, or celery to the smoothies. I feel so much better when I drink those regularly. I have slowed down on them since winter's been here (it's hard to drink a smoothie when it's cold outside!) but I've been drinking my Nuplus in orange juice, so I'm still getting my daily dose of nutrition.

3. House projects. We've made alot of progress on our house this year! Got some new furniture, had a block fence put in with really nice gates, put in a sidewalk, and finally got the outside of our house painted. I'm so excited, there's an end in sight to the house renovations!

4. Vacations. I like to take a lot of little vacations throughout the year and this past year we did several...we rented a beachhouse for a week in Newport Beach, took a trip to Laguna Beach and Knotts Berry Farm, and then did a Disney Vacation with 3 days at Disneyland/California Adventure. We also did a couple of small-town trips. Love those!

5. Business accomplishments. Both of my businesses have grown so much this year! Our Pamper Me Spa Parties business that my sister and I work on together has been so much fun and we ended up getting alot more parties booked this year than we ever thought possible. And my Online Store has done so well this year too! I've gotten so many new customers from all over the United States and am excited that I finally get to work from home, doing what I love and helping people feel better! There's nothing better!

"Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love and something to hope for." -Joseph Addison Yes, I'm happy!

Anyone Up For A Fast Food Challenge This Week?

2010-12-13T08:04:00.000-08:00

A 24 hour stomach bug made for a lame weekend! But I'm feeling much better today and ready for a great week! It's supposed to be such a nice day today, 80 degrees. Love it!

Today starts a new challenge that I'm doing with some friends on Diet Duels . It's a Forget The Fast Food For A Week challenge. Which shouldn't be too hard because I don't usually eat fast food every week. My husband and I used to be major fast foodies, Jack in The Box tacos and McDonalds egg mcmuffins were staples on our weekly menu. But we made changes which inspired me to start up a Healthy Fast Food Store. Anyways, I'm excited for the challenge this week!! Anyone care to join us? We begin today and end next Monday.

I have some great meals to cook this week including Garlic Chicken Stirfry with Quinoa, Mediterranean Chicken with Greek Orzo, and Szechuan Chicken with Garlic Broccoli so fast food doesn't even sound tempting right now. :)

Working And A Trip To Laguna Beach

2010-12-02T06:10:00.000-08:00

Wow, I can't believe that November is already over! Last week and this week have gone by so quick! On Black Friday my sister and I worked at an event downtown called, Lipstick & Rouge. This was such a fun time. The guests got champagne, chocolates, chair massages by me...

... hair makeovers by my sister, Emily...

... as well as facials, manicures, and pedicures. If I hadn't been working at this event, I would have SO wanted to be a guest and get pampered with all those spa services!

Then on Sunday my husband and I left for a little getaway to one of my favorite places... Laguna Beach.

My husband and I got engaged in Laguna and ended up getting married there too. It's such a beautiful place. We visited the gazebo where we got married at right above the ocean. It looked exactly the same!

We ate lots of delicious food including going out for Tapas, which I had never had before. Loved it! We did lots of walking in Laguna and also went to Knotts Berry Farm for the day too. And of course, hit the beach several times. It was pretty chilly there!

We got back last night. I'm glad to be home and get re-focused on some goals that I would really like to reach by the end of the year. Including...weight loss! Going to make some steel cut oats for breakfast right now.

A Great Weekend Ahead

2010-11-19T10:55:00.000-08:00

Fall has finally hit us here in the desert! Cooler temps and even leaves changing colors, I just love it! I'm always miserable here in the summer, but when fall and winter comes, I'm so happy to live somewhere warm!

I have a full weekend ahead. It's going to be busy one, so I'm sure it will just fly by! Here's the plan...

1. A movie in the park tonight, The Great Gatsby is showing.

2. Tomorrow I have a baby shower and a bike ride to lunch at a local brewery with friends that I realized fall at the same time. So I'm going to need to decide which one I'll be doing.

3. Saturday afternoon, I'll be working with my sister at a Spa Party. I'm doing Chair Massages and my sister is doing facials, waxing, and nails! Should be fun!

4. Late Saturday night dinner out with friends (chinese food eaten late means my eyes will be puffy Saturday morning! lol!!)

5. Then hopefully Sunday and Monday, my husband and I are going to work on masking and painting the outside of our house! But just saw that it might rain Monday, so not sure now.

Sunday Breakfast In Bed and Goals

2010-11-14T09:51:00.000-08:00

It's been cold here in the mornings so today since it's Sunday, I decided open up my curtains and let the sun shine through the window and eat breakfast sitting up in bed underneath my warm blanket! An asiago bagel with cream cheese, orange juice, and a pot of hot Calli Tea made for a delicious breakfast!

I can't believe November is already halfway over! Time flies!! So I wrote out some goals for myself that I would like to accomplish by the end of the year!

Goals for November and December-

1. Lose 10 pounds, by...

*4 days, 20 min workouts,

*1/2 carb @ each meal, plus protein and veggies,

*dessert on Wednesdays,

*eat what ever I want days on Sundays.

2. A trip to Laguna Beach and Knotts Berry Farm.

3. 10 hours of volunteer work in both November and December.

4. Paint the outside of our house.

5. Finish decor in the living room, tv room, and our bedroom.

6. Reduce my coffee intake to 1 cup of coffee a day. (I'm drinking 3 to 4 cups right now, yikes!)

I would love to reach all these goals by the end of the year so I can move on to some new things in 2011! I'm already on my way with the weight loss goal, I lost 1 1/2 pounds this week.

"Focus = Power. Find one thing you desire and concentrate all your focus on the mastery of it & success will be inevitable." -Tony Robbins

Busy week!

2010-11-09T07:06:00.000-08:00

Last week was a long and busy week! Besides my usual work, I had a chair massage event I did on a local golf course. I did chair massages all day on one golfer after another!

It was so fun working outside for a change! The views were awesome and it was just a beautiful day to be outside! Loved it!

Then this weekend, I was in the mood to do a little baking. I haven't baked in quite awhile, but had saved the recipe to make these Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Cookies (yeah, candy AND cookies in one!) that I had found on JJDishItOut's blog a long time ago.

I used both milk and dark chocolate peanut butter cups on the cookies, they were SO good!!! Click HERE FOR THE RECIPE. I shared with my parents and sister, but did eat my fair share of these little treasures! I think I'm good on cookies for awhile!

My 30 Day Soda Pop Challenge is going well! I had a bit of a hard time this week because I went to lunch with my sister and cousin and they were both sipping large Cokes! I stuck with water, but it's truly hard to eat Mexican Food without a Coke. They go so well together!!

Then yesterday, I was getting ready to go out for Chinese Food with my sister. Now Chinese Food goes even better with Coke than Mexican Food!! (hmm, seeing a pattern here!) So before I left home, I made myself some Peach Fortune Delight to go in my stainless steel water bottle and took that with me.

Having something healthy to drink with me helped me resist the urge to get a huge Coke once I got there! So I drank plants, fruits, herbs, and antioxidants instead of a 200 calorie Coke (or more since there's free refills). Works for me!

A Facebook Page, A Soda Pop Challenge, and My Workout Motivation

2010-11-02T15:30:00.000-07:00

I just got finished creating a Facebook page for my blog! If you would like to connect with me and my blog, you can visit my page here: That Extra 20 Pounds Blog Facebook Page. Be sure to click the "LIKE" button! :)

So I've committed with my fellow blogger Snap Happy to a soda pop challenge... no soda at all in the month of November! So far I'm on day 2 and I'm doing just fine! It's not like I drink it everyday, but I do enjoy having a Coke a couple of times a week. But I'm stocked up on plenty of sparkling water and herbal teas so I think I will be okay.

I'm feeling pretty good because I was able to complete my goal of 4 days of 20 minute workouts last week. Which is a big deal for me because I really do not enjoy working out at all. What's helped me though is that Netflix just got like 3 seasons of "Keeping Up With The Kardashians" that I can watch instantly on my tv. So I told myself that I can only watch an episode when I'm working out, so that's motivated me and keeps me entertained! Hey, whatever works! :)

Do you have a way of motivating yourself to work out?

Green Smoothies

2010-10-26T07:49:00.000-07:00

So yesterday I was actually craving a Green Smoothie! Pretty scary when that day comes, lol! But my diet was seriously lacking in the veggie department over the weekend. So I put together a smoothie with baby spinach, zucchini squash, celery (all organic), blueberries, mango, a banana, Nuplus, and water/ice! I felt alive again after I drank it!

The other day, I was shopping along at Trader Joe's and came across this jar of Masala Simmer Sauce. I decided to give it a try since we have never really tried Indian Food.
So I used the sauce to make chicken with rice and masala sauce, with broccoli. Loved it!! And so easy! I just cut up chicken breast, put it in a saucepan along with the jar of sauce, covered it, and let it simmer for about 25 minutes. Made some rice in the rice cooker, made some broccoli, and DONE!

Going to try for 4 workouts this week, I was able to get 3 in last week so yay!! "Now and then it's good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy." -Robert Brault

Unplugged

2010-10-18T08:43:00.000-07:00

What a wonderful weekend! We actually escaped the city!! Friday afternoon we packed up our stuff and headed up to the small town that I grew up in. A few of the highlights included blueberry pancakes, a walk in the rain, lunch by this creek...

...plenty of fresh air, a campfire with friends, and s'mores! Because what's a campfire without s'mores, right? It was so nice to get away from the city, my online store stuff, the computer, and even cell phone service for awhile and just clear my head. I guess that's called "unplugging". I need to do that more often!!

I tried out a new recipe last week that I found on For The Love Of Cooking for Chicken and Roasted Pepper Tostadas. Wow, so good!!

You can check out the recipe HERE. I loved this dish and will definitely be making it again!!

This week, my plan is to get in four 20 minute trampoline workouts! And since the weather has cooled off a bit, at least in the evenings, I would love to dust off my bike and go for a bike ride!

Meals I have planned so for are:

* Chicken with masala sauce, rice, and broccoli.

* Cilantro lime chicken with corn and beans.

* Chicken salad with crackers and a strawberry salad.

An anniversary celebration!

2010-10-09T07:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my parents 33 year wedding anniversary. My husband, sister, and I headed to my mom and dad's house last night to celebrate with champagne and chocolate... what could be better?!!

I just love champagne... the bubbles, the flavor, the festive mood it creates!

The cake was amazing!! It had chocolate mousse inside. Mmmm!

My parents are the kindest, generous, most unselfish people I know... they've done so much for my sister and I. Happy anniversary Mom and Dad!!!

Enjoyed the moment

2010-09-30T14:59:00.000-07:00

Two Tips from Mireille Guiliano, author of the book, 'French Women Don't Get Fat".

"French women love to sit at a cafe and do nothing but enjoy the moment."

"No munching, just sipping."

This afternoon I put those two "French Women Don't Get Fat" tips to work. I stopped at my favorite market to sip an iced tea and to enjoy the moment.

I love stopping there for tea because once you buy their refillable cup, you can get iced tea refills for only 50 cents! And I love the freshly brewed flavors they offer... Passion Fruit and Blackberry Jasmine.

I ignored the delicious-looking cookies, cupcakes, and pastries (no munching!) and ordered the Blackberry Jasmine Tea. It was so fragrant that I didn't even need to add sweetener! I sat at a table on the cute little outside patio, sipped my tea and just enjoyed being outside and relaxing.

Glad to be back on track!

Beautiful morning for now!

2010-09-29T07:01:00.000-07:00

I stepped outside this morning and it was a beautiful, crisp 76 degrees out, so I ran inside, turned off the air conditioner and opened all the windows for the first time since summer began.

Yes, I will probably have to close them by about 8:00 am because that's the time it starts warming up from the blazing sun, but for now I am enjoying it! It's supposed to be a scorcher again today, 106 degrees. But on the positive side, I am getting alot of use out of all the sundresses and sandals I bought this summer!

I tried out an awesome recipe this week that I found on a great blog, For The Love Of Cooking.

Cilantro and Lime Chicken Breasts

Awesome!! I served the chicken with lime slices, roasted jalepenos, corn and homemade flour tortillas. Loved all the flavors of the chicken and it was simple to make! Yum!!

Lost a pound this week so far. So happy to be back on track! The menu for dinners this week is:

*Pepperoni Pizza on wheat crust with zucchini.

*Tortilla Soup with chicken and salad.

*Chinese Chicken Salad.

*Chicken Salad with apples and pecans with crackers and side salad.

New love for Quinoa!

2010-09-24T09:22:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I went to a BBQ at my cousin's house and there was a bowl of Quinoa served as a side dish. I had never tried Quinoa... but I tasted it and become a fan immediately! So I bought a box at Trader Joe's last week and tried out the recipe on the back of the box for Garlic Chicken Stir Fry with Quinoa this. My hubby and I both loved this healthy dish!! I will definitely add this into my meal rotation, I like that Quinoa has more protien than other grains. And it's so yummy!!

Garlic Chicken Stir Fry with Quinoa
1 cup quinoa
prepared with chicken stock
2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 lb chicken breasts
4 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper thinly sliced
1 green bell pepper thinly sliced
5 cloves garlic minced
parmesan cheese
salt and pepper

Cut chicken into 1 inch pieces. Heat skillet over high heat and add olive oil. Add chicken and saute until golden brown. Add onion, bell peppers and saute for 2 more minutes. Add garlic and saute until peppers become slightly limp but still bright. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and add Quinoa. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Serves four. Delicious!!

I planned out my meals for the next few days yesterday and went grocery shopping. So meals will be:

*Spicy Chicken Enchiladas topped with lettuce, tomato, and jalepenos,

*Cilantro and Lime Chicken Breasts with tortillas and corn,

*Tuna Sandwiches with lettuce, tomato, and alfalfa sprouts,

*Chinese Salad with grilled Chicken,

*Chicken Salad with almonds and dried cranberries with crackers.

I would love to lose two pounds by the end of September!! Just putting that out there. :)

French Press Coffee and Five Rules!

2010-09-16T07:46:00.000-07:00

I am just loving our new French Press we bought at Ikea this week. Started out my morning with two cups of french press coffee... I want more!! I'll try to stick to water... sigh.

Finally got some motivation back this week when I watched this Dr Oz Video. I just love him! It was a short video about his five rules to lose 10 pounds.

Dr Oz's five commandments to lose 10 Pounds:

1) completely cut out sugary soda
2) do not eat after 8pm
3) move at least 10 minutes a day
4) eat snacks that are no bigger than the size of your fist
5) track what you weigh everyday

So I'm going to follow his rules and hopefully be able to start losing some weight again! 10 pounds!!

Eric has off work Friday to Monday so I'm going to try to cook some dinners this weekend. We've been eating out so much, and he's a major fast foodie so this has got to stop!

Meals this weekend:
Spaghetti with roasted veggies.
Quinoa with chicken and veggies.
Grilled Steak and Bean Tostadas.

Busy Week!!

2010-09-10T13:40:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy week! We have been working on the outside of our house quite a bit and making some great progress. Last week we had a block wall put in around the sides and front of our house.
They're supposed to come back tomorrow to put the side gate and the driveway gate in. Then we can cross that project off the list! Next up... painting the outside of our house and landscaping! I can't wait to be done! Renovating a house is seriously alot of work.

I got to go to a baseball game this week with my sister and a couple of friends, we had a blast!

So much fun to get hot dogs and popcorn and just chill out in the beautiful ball park! Haven't been to a game in two years, so I'm glad I got to go before the season ends!

I tried out a new recipe last night that I got on FittingBackIn's blog for
Spicy Sesame Noodles With Chicken. Click on the link for the recipe, it was so good! I'll definitely make it again!! I think next time I'll add some cabbage and carrots to it!

Hope you have a great weekend! I'll be at a BBQ tomorrow and then working on Sunday doing Chair Massage at a Spa Party for a women's social networking organization.

Will summer ever end???

2010-08-31T18:50:00.000-07:00

I've been so out of it lately! Haven't been able to read many blogs, haven't been commenting on many blogs, haven't been exercising. But I sure HAVE been eating bad. :) Not like terrible or anything, just alot of eating out. This has been 'the summer of happy hours' for some reason. Seems like going to a cool, dark restaurant with the air conditioning cranking is the only thing to do when its 110 degrees outside! I'm so sick of summer!! But it's not over yet. It doesn't start cooling down here until late October. Ugh!

Just got home from the grocery store... I stocked up on tons of fruit for my usual smoothies, some healthy snacks like apples and peanut butter, and lots of lettuce, turkey, and chicken for salads at lunch. I'm really going to try to get to my goal. Like, soon!!!

I just joined http://www.myfitnesspal.com/. Heard of it?? It's a really cool site, where you can track your meals and it adds up your calories for the day. And you can keep track of calories burned from exercise. So I'm pretty excited to give it a try!!

Meals I have planned for the week-

*Chinese Chicken Salad

*Turkey and Spring Salad w/balsamic vinegarette

*Brunch Pizza Squares w/side salad

*Pasta w/ Chicken Sausage and Spinach

*Chicken Pot Pie

What I ate yesterday...

2010-08-27T11:18:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was such a whirlwind... busy busy busy!! So this morning as I was drinking my breakfast smoothie, I tried to remember what I ate yesterday. Get this...

Breakfast- Dunkin Donuts Assorted Donut Holes and Coffee.
Lunch- McDonalds Double Cheeseburger, French Fries, and a Coke.
Snack- Chips and Salsa
Dinner- Five Guys Cheeseburger, French Fries, and a Coke.

Nice!!! It's amazing how easy it is to eat bad when you're busy and not even notice. I can't believe I ate a cheeseburger and french fries for both lunch and dinner. Ugh! I definitely need to get back on track. Like, NOW!!

New Smoothie Cup!

2010-08-21T13:18:00.000-07:00

Check out my brand new Starbucks reusable cup I have for my smoothies!! I love it!!

Tania at Growing Towards A Dream recently had a giveaway on her blog for this cup. My sister, Emily at Miss Scissorhands entered her giveaway and won! And she gave me the cup since she knows I'm on a smoothie kick!! Isn't that awesome?!! Thanks Emily and Tania!

I'm really loving the smoothies in the morning! I just make sure to keep plenty of fresh blueberries, strawberries, mango, and bananas on hand. I like to make sure I have 3 servings of fruit in my smoothie, I add in a scoop of Nuplus of course, and water and ice! I notice my digestion is working much better and I just feel overall like I have more energy. I've always had a hard time making sure I eat plenty of fruits and veggies, so the smoothies are helping me with that. And now that I have this cute Starbucks cup to enjoy them out of, it makes it even more fun! :)

This week I was able to cook a couple of dinners... I made Pasta with Chicken, Sundried Tomatoes, and Asparagus one night and Spicy Chinese Fried Rice another night. I'm hoping to make Chicken Pot Pie sometime this weekend too, but today I'm just so tired! It's just been a very busy week!! My Online Store has really been bringing in the orders lately! I love it, but it just made for a super busy week! I'm all caught up as of last night and plan on doing plenty of relaxing this weekend!! Now I'm going to catch up on all my blog reading... I have all the blinds closed in the house, I'm sitting in front of the fan sipping a glass of herbal tea. Yay, I love Saturdays!!

Kung Pao Chicken Recipe

2010-08-16T09:18:00.000-07:00

My husband and I love chinese food and go out for chinese at least once a week. Kung Pao is always Eric's favorite thing on the menu, so the other day I found a recipe for Spicy Kung Pao Chicken and I thought I'd surprise him. I was so happy, it turned out awesome! He said it was tasted better than any restaurants' version. :) I'll be making this often for sure! Maybe next time with shrimp instead of chicken!

Spicy Kung Pao Chicken

You'll need:

3 Chicken Breasts

Marinade:
2 tsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp white pepper

For sauce:
3 tbsp chicken broth
3 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp chili garlic sauce

Seasonings:
3 tbsp canola oil
10 dried red chiles
1 clove minced garlic
1/2 onion cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2 each red and green bell pepper, cut into 1/2 inch squares
1/2 tsp cornstarch dissolved in 1 tsp water
1/3 cup peanuts
3/4 cup water chestnuts

Directions:
Cut chicken into 1 1/2 inch squares. Place in a bowl with marinade ingredients and let stand for 10 minutes. Combine sauce ingredients in a bowl.

Add 1 1/2 tbsp canola oil to pan on medium high, place chicken in pan and fry until golden brown. Set aside.

Add remaining 1 1/2 tbsp canola oil to a new pan. Add dried chilies, garlic, onions,and bell peppers; stirfry for 1 minute. Return chicken and add sauce until heated throughout. Add cornstarch solution and stir until sauce boils and thickens. Add peanuts and water chestnuts. Serve.

Plan for the week

2010-08-02T07:45:00.000-07:00

Last night I was looking at some of my early blog posts and got some new inspiration. When I first started my blog, I lost 11 pounds in 6 weeks and had made it all the way to 139 pounds, which is pretty much where I'd ultimately like to be at. So I was looking to see how I was eating back then and I was doing 6 days of lower carb meals with lots of veggies and fruit. Then I had one day a week (usually Sundays) where I allowed myself to eat whatever I wanted. This worked so well for me back then, so I'm going to give it a try again to get me up to my goal of 138!

Been planning my grocery list for the next few days this morning. Here's my plan for the week!

-Breakfasts
Looking back at my blog, I used to eat eggs, bacon, and 1/2 piece of toast for breakfast. But I know that my Nuplus Smoothies are much healthier so I'm going to keep up with my smoothies for breakfast. No more bacon and eggs.

-Lunches
turkey spring salad
strawberry salad with grilled chicken.

-Snacks
Fruit with string cheese,
celery with peanut butter,
trail mix,
cottage cheese.

-Dinners
Grilled Steak, broccoli salad, green beans.
Kung Pao Chicken, stirfry veggies.
Chicken Salad Sandwiches, strawberry salad.

I'm also going to continue my 3 days of 30 minute trampoline workouts. I have a great feeling about this week!!

Life As A Slacker!

2010-07-29T13:01:00.000-07:00

I've has such a wonderful week since I posted last Thursday! After I finished up my Jury Duty (I had to appear and go through jury selection, but was eventually excused, yay!), I was so relieved and just needed to relax. So my sister and I spent Friday and Saturday at a local resort for a staycation!!

We had a blast! Lots of laying out by the pool, relaxing on the lazy river, and we even went on the water slide a couple of times!! By Sunday, I felt completely stress-free!!

We loved this resort!!

I decided to continue my slacker lifestyle this week because my husband had off work Monday thru Wednesday! We chilled out at home, went shopping, went out to eat alot...

Margaritas, yummy!!

I ended up ordering the most gigantic cheeseburger I've ever seen! Thank goodness my husband at half of it!

Yesterday we decided to try out a new Thai Restaurant near our house. It was awesome!!

Spicy Drunken Noodles with Chicken. SO good!!

And last night the fun continued as we met some of my family at a local brewery!

I have been doing my smoothie breakfasts every morning and I feel alot better throughout the day because I'm getting plenty of fruits/veggies. But we have eaten out alot, so I'm ready to put together my grocery list and make some healthier meals the next few days!

I woke up this morning and did my 30 minute trampoline workout first thing, so today I'm good on exercise! But 2 more days of exercise desperately needed this week!! Just finished cleaning the house and now I'm getting some Online orders ready to go and then off to the post office!

Loving the salads and smoothies!

2010-07-22T07:35:00.000-07:00

Lots of salads and smoothies for me last week!! Feeling great because of it, I desperately needed that extra boost of fruits and veggies!

I tried a new salad recipe and it was so good! I loved that it had both fruit and veggies in it!

Mixed Greens With Sauteed Pears and Parmesan Crisps (the crisps were the best part!)

For the pears- In a nonstick pan over medium heat, saute 1 sliced pear (16 slices) in 1 tbsp olive oil. Cook until lightly browned.

For the parmesan crips- Combine 1/2 cup grated Parmesan Cheese with 1/2 tsp flour. Using a nonstick skillet over medium heat, sprinkle a thin layer of the mixture into 2 inch circles in the pan. When they start to turn golden, flip and cook other side.

In a large bowl, spoon warm pears onto Mixed Greens, add parmesan crisps on top. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and olive oil, salt/pepper.

I drank some pretty awesome smoothies last week too! My favorite was my MangoBananaBerry Smoothie!

Lots of stuff went into this one... frozen mango, fresh blueberries, 1 frozen banana, water, ice, a packet of Nuplus, and 1 packet of Raspberry Fortune Delight Powdered Tea. Loved it!!

Today, I may or may not have to report for Jury Duty, I have to call in at 11am and find out. So in the meantime I'm going to do a 30 minute workout, make a MangoBananaBerry Smoothie, and then straighten up the house.

Have you ever had Jury Duty? It makes me so nervous, not sure why!!

Time For A Smoothie and Salad Detox

2010-07-13T07:37:00.000-07:00

Ok, so my scale is headed in the wrong direction again, I gained half a pound this week. Which really isn't so bad I guess considering that I've been on carb overload lately! And the more carbs I eat, the more carbs my body craves of course. So I'm trying to get myself back on track again right now. I did do 3 of my 30 minute trampoline workouts last week though, so at least I can feel good about getting some regular exercise in.

I love my trampoline! :)

I got a great idea this morning when reading my cousin Kim's new blog Small Batch Travel (I am loving her blog about all things travel, check it out!). In here latest post she wrote about how she's doing a 7 day smoothie and salad detox and I think this is exactly what I need right now. She even gave a couple of recipes for her favorite salads, they sound delicious!

So now through Sunday I'm committing to making a breakfast smoothie in the morning and at least one fresh salad for either lunch or dinner each day! I've been definitely lacking in the fruit and veggie department lately, so this should help!

To kick the week off, this morning I'm drinking my Strawberry Breakfast Smoothie since I had all the ingredients already in the fridge.

Yum!!

But I plan to try out some new smoothie recipes too, I found one recipe that has rolled oats in it. Sounds interesting! :)

Strawberry Breakfast Smoothie

In a blender add:

1 cup Trader Joe's Frozen Strawberries

1 cup Milk (I used 2% this morning but I need to buy 1%)

1 packet Nuplus

6 drops Stevia

A few months ago, I made a YouTube video for my Online Store showing how I make this smoothie, so here ya go if you want to watch me make it...

Everything's Better In Newport Beach

2010-07-05T08:53:00.000-07:00

Well, we're back home after spending 8 relaxing days in Newport Beach, California! We rented a cute little beachhouse with my parents and sister. We spent alot of time out on our patio enjoying the cool sea breeze.

I loved that it was only 12 steps from the beach! We went swimming alot and layed out by the water relaxing and napping.

I ended up getting several orders on my Online Store while I was there, so I paid a visit to the local Post Office to ship the orders. Even the Post Office was cute!! I've decided that everything is better in Newport Beach! :)

One morning my mom treated us to homemade waffles for breakfast! She had strawberries, whipped cream, and maple syrup to top them with. SO good!!!

Other mornings we stopped by the local bakery for some freshly made donuts! Donuts definitely taste better in Newport Beach.

I'm ready to get back on track, ready for some healthy eating and regular exercise! This week I'm going to try to do some intuitive eating. Each day I'm going to try for 3 servings of veggies and 2 servings of fruit and going to focus on stopping my eating just as I'm full. I'm all set to do my 30 minute trampoline workout for 4 days also!

I'm so excited because Blogger has all kinds of cool new design templates so I'm trying out a new one on my blog! I think I like it!! :)

A Yummy 40th Anniversary Dinner

2010-06-22T08:11:00.000-07:00

On Sunday my husband and his sister made their parents an absolutely delicious dinner to celebrate their 4oth wedding anniversary! Filet Mignon wrapped in Applewood Smoked Bacon, Potato Fries and Leeks, and a summer Watermelon Salad.

The meal they cooked was worthy of being in a 4 Star Restaurant! We drank Red Wine with our meal and then had a glass of Champagne after dinner. I just love Champagne!!

My contribution was dessert! It was so funny, we had stopped by a store to buy a cake and just as we arrived, they were doing a cake contest and were drawing a number for a cake. So I grabbed a number last minute and my number was drawn... I won a German Chocolate Cake! And it was a really good cake too!

I was able to work out last week 5 times, yay!! But so far this week, I haven't been able to. There's this flu that's been going around and I've been fighting it off for like a week I think. I'm not full blown sick, which is great....just feeling out of it. A bit of an earache, my jaw has been hurting, no energy, and my body just feels sore. So I'm trying to take it easy!

Thank You Blogosphere!!!

2010-06-18T09:56:00.001-07:00

There are so many reasons I love reading blogs! One of my favorite things about the blogosphere is the recipes! Tried two new recipes this week from two different blogs and they both turned out awesome! These will definitely be regulars on my menus!

First off was a breakfast recipe for Brunch Pizza Squares that I found on www.FittingBackIn.blogspot.com/.

Awesome! Lots of protein which kept me full all morning! And very simple to make, which I'm all for. Next time I make it (which will be soon!) I think I would like to add some onion and green bell pepper on top!

And last night's dinner recipe was Meditteranean Chicken With Greek Orzo that I ran across on www.ForTheLoveOfCooking-Recipes.blogspot.com/.

Another absolutely delicious meal that I will be making again soon!

I've been doing my 30 minute trampoline workout regularly while I catch up on the morning news. My goal for the week was to do it 4 times, which I already have done! Think I'll go for 5 times this week!!

Been busy keeping up with orders on my Online Store www.HealthyFastFoodStore.com. Love it! One thing that's been annoying me though is lately when I email the invoice and payment instructions to my customers, I think sometimes my email may be going to their Spam folder because there have been a couple of people I haven't heard back from or received payment from. I know alot of people don't check their Spam or Junk folders....so I'm trying to figure out what I can do to fix this.

Ok, off to get orders ready and then a trip to the post office!

6 Year Anniversary!

2010-06-12T17:17:00.000-07:00

My hubby and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary on Thursday and Friday! We went to an absolutely gorgous Westin Resort and Spa to celebrate!

One of the best parts of our stay was the awesome view from our balcony! We spent our mornings out on the balcony reading the newspaper and then at night after dinner, we watched the pretty sunset. Loved the view!

During the day, we had a blast at the pool and lazy river! We got a little sun and enjoyed relaxing and swimming.

But for me, the BEST part of the hotel was the in-room coffee bar with complimentary Starbucks Coffee. Awesome! I've decided that I'm a Coffee-Aholic!!!! heehee!

Sweet Potato Fries Are My New Love

2010-06-02T20:05:00.000-07:00

I love all the awesome meal ideas that I get from reading everyone's blogs! I've seen alot of different bloggers post pictures of Sweet Potato Fries and the other day when I was grocery shopping, I saw a bag of frozen Sweet Potato Fries from Trader Joe's so I decided to grab them and give them a try. I baked them in the convection oven and served them alongside Grilled Chicken Kabobs! We absolutely loved the fries! Very yummy!

Grilled Chicken Kabobs

These came out so good! We marinated the chicken breasts in the juice of 1 lemon, 1 clove of garlic smashed, salt, and a drizzle of olive oil. Then put white onion and green bell pepper slices on the spears along with the chicken and grilled it. Made a nice healthy meal and the Sweet Potato Fries were the perfect side dish!

We have a very busy weekend ahead! We're going to a 3 day convention and we have to bring lunches all 3 days. So I have to get to Trader Joe's tomorrow and buy all the stuff for our lunches. I've been trying to plan out tonight what to take...

Friday- Turkey and Applewood Smoked Bacon Sandwiches,

Saturday- Chicken Salad and Wheat Thins,

Sunday- Turkey Sandwiches

For sides and snacks I'm going to get Green Grapes, Cherries, Trail Mix, those addictive Peanut Butter Pretzels, and some Laughing Cow Garlic and Herb Cheese to go with crackers.

Have a great weekend!!

Progress- woot woot!

2010-05-27T13:02:00.000-07:00

I love it when I make progress! I love it when I get to change the number of my weight on my weight loss ticker at the top of my blog here! I've gotten down to 141 lbs which I'm so happy to be out of the 143's that I was stuck at for so long. I see my goal of 138 happening within the next couple of weeks, which would be great!

Things I've been working on:

1. NOT eating if I'm NOT hungry. This is a biggie for me! There are so many times I eat just out of boredom! I've been just pausing and asking myself if I'm really hungry, before I reach for a snack.

2. Exercising 4 times a week. For me to stick with it, I decided it had to be something that I enjoy, that I consider fun rather than actual exercise!

3. Cooking as many homemeade meals as I can! Which has turned into more of a hobby for me. I love cooking now!

This week I'm planning on making Tortilla Soup with corn on the side, Chicken Fajitas w/ pinto beans, Lemony Garlic Angel Hair Pasta with grilled chicken, and Char Siu Bao with stirfry veggies. Yum, I'm hungry already!

Working, Exercising, and Eating Dessert

2010-05-18T11:59:00.000-07:00

Things have been busy! My sister and I finished up the last of our Spring Spa Parties that we had scheduled. We have a little business where we do Spa Parties for ladies at their location for bachelorette parties, baby showers, day before wedding, etc.

My sister, Emily is a Cosmotologist so she does waxing and nails. Here she is...

And I of course I do Chair Massages...

These Spa Parties are really fun to work at, but are also really tiring! We do services one after the other with no breaks so at the end of the day, we're exhausted! We had a ton of parties this Spring and just finished our last one last weekend. We're welcoming the summer break!

Now I just get to focus on working on my Online Store for awhile! Which is fun for me! I just paid off my student loan on Sunday with money I've made from my Online Store the last 3 months, so I'm very excited!! I've been paying on that loan for 7 years so it's such a relief to be done with that!

I've been exercising regularly lately (yay!)... doing my dance workouts and on Friday we played volleyball with some friends! We played for 2 hours and I was sore the next day. But it was so much fun! Isn't exercise supposed to be fun?

The other day I was wanting some dessert, so I put this together...

Strawberries and Dark Chocolate

So good!! I just melted a small bar of dark chocolate and dipped the strawberries and that was it! Very simple and it hit the spot for something sweet!

As for now, my goals are to keep doing my dance workouts 4 to 5 days this week and start cooking some dinners that are carb free! I need to lose me some weight!

Grilled Teriyaki Chicken and Chinese Salad

2010-05-12T08:20:00.000-07:00

Still hanging out at 143 pounds. I haven't been exercising at all for some reason, not in the mood I guess. But I know the importance of exercise, so I made a plan for the rest of this week... two 30 minute dance workouts and two days walking 10,000 steps!

It really has been helping me to post my dinners and recipes on my blog. That way when I'm making my grocery list for the week, I can look on the sidebar of my blog and see what sounds good! I'm always at a loss for what to make for dinner, so this has been helping me.

Grilled chicken seems to be our theme for the week... we made Grilled Teriyaki chicken with Steamed Broccoli (no rice!).

Grilled Teriyaki Chicken

This was very simple, we just marinated a couple of Chicken Breasts in Trader Joe's Soyaki Sauce for a few hours and then grilled the chicken. I love that sauce, it's a combination of soy sauce and ginger and has sesame seeds in it, yum!

Another favorite meal was Chinese Chicken Salad! Also pretty easy and low carb.

Chinese Salad With Grilled Chicken

Ingredients:

Romaine Lettuce

Sliced Almonds, slightly toasted

2 Packages Top Ramen Oriental Flavor

3/4 cup Canola Oil

6 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar

1 Tbsp Soy Sauce

21 drops Sunectar Stevia or 6 Tbsp Sugar

Cut Romaine lettuce into bite size pieces. Toast almonds in oven quickly, just until a light golden color. Crumble Top Ramen Noodles and add almonds and noodles on top of the lettuce.

For Salad Dressing:

To red wine vinegar, add the 2 flavor packets of Top Ramen, stir to dissolve Oriental Flavoring, add to canola oil. Add Soy Sauce and either 21 drops of Stevia or the Sugar. Blend well.

Add grilled chicken on top!

Harvest Salad and Grilled Cod

2010-05-01T09:10:00.000-07:00

We tried out two new recipes for dinner and they were so good that I just had to add them to my recipe list! I love it when new recipes turn out so well!

I made a Harvest Salad... the combination of fruit, nuts, and spring salad was delicious!

Harvest Salad

1 bag Spring Salad Mix

1 Pear sliced thin

8 oz of blue cheese or feta cheese

1 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup toasted pine nuts

For the dressing, combine 1/2 cup Olive Oil with 2 tbs Balsamic Vinegar and pour over salad.

I had bought some Cod and my plan was to bake it in butter and garlic. But my husband said he wanted to try grilling it. So he did and it turned out amazing!!

Grilled Cod

It was super easy! He just topped the cod with olive oil, salt, pepper, and a few random spices, wrapped it in foil, and put it on the grill for about 10 minutes until flaky. All I can say is WOW!! :)

"Cooking is relaxing, and focusing on your preparation can be a getaway from daily stress." -Mireille Guiliano

What Happened To This Week???

2010-04-30T06:23:00.001-07:00

This week has flown by, super busy! I never had a chance to get to the grocery store this week... and you know what that means. Eating out. Chinese food, mexican food, submarine sandwiches, fried chicken and macaroni and cheese. But last night put us over the edge... gigantic hamburgers and greasy onion rings. After we ate, my husband said he felt like his gall bladder was going to explode. Ugh!!

So I have off today and am putting togeter my grocery list. Planning on making Baked Chicken Taquitos and Bool Kogi Lettuce Wraps. I'll have to scour the internet for a couple of new recipes to try too.

Is it seriously the last day of April??? That means bathing suit season is almost here! It's now or never as far as those 5 pounds I'm wanting to lose goes!

Got Some Great Tips This Week!

2010-04-22T08:55:00.000-07:00

Still slowly working on weight loss. I'm at 143 lbs as of today, so the scale IS going in the right direction right now. I'm doing 30 minutes of exercise 4 or 5 days a week. Breakfast is my Nuplus Shake mixed with watered down orange juice and a serving of protein, lately a slice of turkey because I'm SO sick of eggs! I'm trying to keep my lunch and dinner portions down. And my afternoon snack is mostly almonds, yogurt, or 1/2 a piece of toast w/ a tsp of peanut butter.

This week I asked all my Facebook friends for suggestions on how they lose weight when they have 5 or 6 pounds to lose. I loved reading all the comments I got! Here were some of the answers that I found the most helpful!

"I ve lost 77 pounds in 5 months working out 2 hours a day monday through friday and eating a lot more veggies... :) Is that the answer you were looking for??"

"My wife said, "Replace your bad carbs (starchy carbs) with high protein". :)"

"Its a way of life. I eat good about 80% of the time and cheat the rest... I don't deprive myself of food anymore it made me too sick."

Awesome things for me to work on!

I read some great tips in this article too, ' Getting The Skinny On French Cooking' from the author of "French Women Don't Get Fat". When asked why 'French women don’t get fat', “they cook” was her short answer. "North Americans are fascinated but afraid of food, forever dieting and restricting. French women eat a wider variety of foods, but in small quantities, and make special time to cook and eat."

So what's everyone cooking tonight?? :)

Would You Prefer A Big Mac For Lunch Or A Smoked Turkey, Brie, Green Apple, and Watercress Sandwich?

2010-04-15T11:34:00.000-07:00

Slowly chipping away at my weight the last couple of weeks! I've added in exercise (30 minute dance workouts, 4 times a week) and have been cooking alot! I can tell I'm making progress in the way that my clothes are fitting, I'll probably weigh myself this weekend.

I made an awesome sandwich for lunch, I got the recipe from Cooking Light. It was so delicious!! Much, much better than a hamburger and fries from McDonalds! :)

Smoked Turkey, Brie, Green Apple, and Watercress Sandwich

Ingredients
1 1/2 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 tablespoons mustard
1 (8-ounce) French bread baguette
6 ounces thinly sliced smoked turkey breast
1/4 pound Brie cheese, thinly sliced
1 cup trimmed watercress
1 cup thinly sliced peeled Granny Smith apple
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine honey and mustard in a small bowl. Cut bread in half lengthwise; place on a baking sheet. Spread honey mixture on bottom half of loaf; top with turkey and cheese. Bake at 350° for 5 minutes or until cheese begins to melt.

Arrange watercress and apple slices onto melted cheese; sprinkle with pepper. Cover with top half of loaf, and cut into 4 portions.

Jaime Oliver's Herb Marinated Chicken

2010-04-06T17:53:00.000-07:00

I have become a huge fan of Jaime Oliver lately! I've been watching his show, "Food Revolution" and I think he's awesome! One of the things he's trying to do is get families away from processed foods, into the kitchen, and cooking meals at home from raw ingredients. And since cooking at home is something I'm really focusing on right now, this show is right up my alley! He has some great recipes on his website: www.jamieoliver.com/recipes

So I tried out one of his recipes for Sunday dinner. I made Herb Marinated Chicken, Braised Spinach, and my husband made Roasted Rosemary Potatoes. It was absolutely delicious!!

Herb Marinated Chicken

Ingredients:

4 Chicken Breasts
Summer Savory (I didn't have this so I just used extra Rosemary)
Rosemary
6 Garlic Cloves
8 Tbsp Olive Oil
Sea Salt/ Pepper
2 Lemons washed and thinly sliced
2 Glasses Chardonnay

With a rolling pin and a metal bowl, bruise the flavor out of the herbs, squash in the garlic cloves and pour in the olive oil. Mix and rub all over the chicken breasts. Marinate for a couple of hours.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Season chicken with Salt/Pepper and place in oven for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and lay the lemon slices over the chicken. Tilt the tray and spoon over all the cooking oils, add the wine to the tray and cook for another 15 to 20 minutes or until nice and golden and cooked through – the juices should run clear. Remove from the oven and rest for 10 minutes before serving

Cooking Up A Storm

2010-04-01T21:35:00.000-07:00

The good news is that I've been doing a ton of cooking!! Not much eating out going on except Chinese takeout the other day and even though the Chinese food wasn't deep-fried, the dishes were still super greasy! Yuck! Which made me realize even more how much better homemade food is! So here are a few of the things I've cooked lately...

Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken Salad with Dried Cranberries on a bed of Spinach

Lemony Garlic and Tomato Pasta With Chicken

BBQ Chicken Pizza On Whole Wheat Crust

Hmm, so I see a theme going on here... definitely alot of Chicken dishes. We've pretty much completely eliminated red meat from our diet, which is awesome!

Something I need to work on now is my portion sizes. I like the advice that Mirelle Guiliano, the author of "French Women Don't Get Fat" gives, "Less is more. Eat accordingly. Cook for pleasure." I have the 'cook for pleasure' thing down. I need to work on the 'less is more' part now!

Baked Chicken Taquitos

2010-03-23T18:01:00.000-07:00

I've been cooking at home the last couple of days. Last night I decided to take an old favorite, Chicken Taquitos, and try to make them a little bit healthier. So instead of frying them in oil, I baked them in the oven. They turned out very good! And alot less greasy.

Baked Chicken Taquitos

Ingredients-
8 White Corn Tortillas
2 Cooked Chicken Breasts
Salsa
Canola Oil Cooking Spray
Salt

Boil 2 chicken breasts in chicken broth until tender. Shred chicken with a fork and place in a bowl. Add 3 Tablespoons of Salsa to shredded chicken.

Spray a little Canola Oil Spray on a Corn Tortilla. Fill with chicken mixture and roll up. Place all rolled tortillas into a baking dish and spray all over with Canola Oil Spray. Lightly salt. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes or until crispy.

Enjoy with guacamole, salsa, and sour cream.

No Wonder!

2010-03-18T07:08:00.000-07:00

Last week I did chair massage at a Spa Party and I had this picture taken while I was there (with my massage chair). I was looking at it thinking that I looked like I had gained a couple of pounds in the last few weeks. Even just a few pounds show up on me because I'm short, 5' 3"!

So last night my husband and I were talking about how we both felt like we've gained a few pounds in the last couple of weeks. I said that I didn't know why we would have gained weight because we hadn't been eating that bad. But then he reminded me that in the last 7 days, we had eaten at 3 mexican restaurants, 1 chinese restaurant, and last night... fast food. And I remembered I had gone out for pizza for lunch the other day too. How easy I forget! So that means in the last 7 days we had eaten out 6 times. That's not so great! No wonder!

This week I have started something new. I'm doing 30 minute dance workouts in the morning. I'm having fun so far! I've done it 3 days this week, gonna try for 5! My thing is that I don't want exercise to FEEL like exercise or else I'll hate every minute of it and probably quit! It's all in my mind. But I have been enjoying this... I feel like I'm going to a dance party every morning, fun!!! So hopefully I keep it up!

Strawberries

2010-03-09T07:58:00.000-08:00

My strawberry plant has it's first few strawberries ready to pick! I don't want to pick them though, they look so pretty! :-) The best part is that I know they're organic, no pesticides! Now what to make with them. I'm thinking a strawberry smoothie... or maybe a slice of strawberry shortcake.

The Happiest Place On Earth

2010-03-08T08:48:00.000-08:00

My husband and I just got back from "The Happiest Place on Earth"... Disneyland!

Here we are on Splash Mountain. I'm the second one from the front... I'm the one with the hoodie on... I did NOT want to get my hair wet! haha! We did the 3 day park hopper pass for Disneyland and California Adventure and had a great time.

The hotel we stayed at have free breakfast, but it consisted of coffee, orange juice, do-it-yourself waffles, donuts, and toast w/ jelly. Everything was sugary!! So I had a donut and coffee every morning (ugh!). Fortunately, I brought my packets of Nuplus with me so every morning I mixed it with some orange juice in my shaker bottle and drank it down. So at least I got some fruits and veggies in me.

By the time we got home Friday night, I was ready for some home cooking! All I had in the house when we got back were eggs, bread, and lettuce so Saturday for lunch we had egg salad sandwiches. After lunch, I ran to the store and got some stuff to make Chicken Tortilla Soup for Saturday's dinner.

I had leftover soup for lunch yesterday and will probably have another bowl for lunch today! Mmm!

I need to plan dinners for this week and get to the grocery store this afternoon. I'm ready to get to my goal weight of 138 and I'm not stopping until I get there! Spring is almost here!!

My Little Starter Garden and Recipe For Pasta With Chicken And Sundried Tomatoes

2010-02-15T06:50:00.000-08:00

I've decided to try out my hand at gardening! Someday I would love to grow a real garden, in the actual ground. But for now, I'm starting with a few potted plants. So far, I have a few herbs... basil, parsley, and peppermint. And then I just added a tomato plant and a strawberry plant last week. So far everything is still alive!!

I tried out a new recipe for pasta last week and loved it! I made it for dinner and then had enough leftovers for 2 days worth of lunches... and I still wasn't sick of it! I'll definitely be making this again soon!

Pasta With Chicken And Sundried Tomatoes

You'll Need:

3 Grilled Chicken Breasts

Penne Pasta

1 Can Sundried Tomatoes packed in olive oil

1 Can Artichoke Hearts

4 Garlic Cloves minced

Toasted Pine Nuts

Juice of 1/2 Lemon

Olive Oil

Salt/Pepper

Parmesan Cheese

Boil Penne Pasta in hot water until cooked.

Heat a pan over medium heat with 1 Tbsp Olive Oil. Add 4 garlic cloves minced until lightly browned. Add 1 Can Sundried Tomatoes along with a little of the olive oil from the tomatoes and 1 Can of drained Artichoke Hearts. Toss in cooked Penne Pasta, sliced Grilled Chicken, juice of 1/2 Lemon, and Toasted Pine Nuts. Salt and Pepper to taste. Sprinkle with Parmesan Cheese.

Regrouping

2010-02-09T09:21:00.000-08:00

If it's true that "you are what you eat" then I'm pizza, Doritos, butter cookies, and Coca Cola right now. I had a very busy week last week, didn't go grocery shopping, and I just pretty much ate whatever without thinking. I'm grossed out on junk food right now!! Trying to turn things around today though. I ate out too much, I'm SO sick of it! So I'm planning some meals for the week right now that I can cook at home. Next up... I'm heading to the market to stock up on fruits, veggies, and turkey for sandwiches for my lunches. Seriously, after the junky food I've eaten, something simple like sandwiches sounds really good to me!

February Already!!

2010-02-01T07:40:00.000-08:00

Last night I realized that today was going to be February 1st! Time seems to be flying by! So I decided that I'm going to take on February and make it my month for weight loss... time to lose 5 more pounds so I can reach my goal and move on with my life!!

So my plan and goals for the week are:

*Walk and track 10,000 steps a day

(I haven't been wearing my pedometer for the last few weeks)

*No carbs at breakfast.

*A dessert every 3 days.

(so dessert on Wednesday and Saturday this week)

*Cook, cook, cook!

(we've been doing really well about eating at home!)

February to April is usually the best time for outdoor activities where we live... before it gets HOT!!! So I'm hoping we can start adding some bike rides and long hikes into our weeks too.

Have You Watched "Food, Inc."?

2010-01-27T08:03:00.000-08:00

We finally got around to watching "Food, Inc.". Have you seen it yet? If you haven't you can watch the trailer here: www.FoodIncMovie.com. It was definitely an eye opener, if not overwhelming! I recommend everyone watch this documentary and get educated on how to grocery shop and eat to live a healthier and disease-free life.

It definitely made me want to make some changes! Here are a few things I'm going to implement into our way of life.... (and if I do make these changes, I'll lose weight too right?)

1. Meatless meals- we always eat meat at every meal but I know this is not necessary. I'm planning on eating more vegetarian meals.

2. Shop at the Farmer's Market for organic fruits and veggies.

3. When we do buy meat, I'm going to try to buy Free Range Chicken and Grass Fed Beef.

4. Eat at home more instead of eating out.

5. I don't know if I'll EVER be able to eat a fast food hamburger again.

5. Buy food locally as much as I can.

Breakfast this morning was a Berry Breakfast Smoothie and 2 tbsp Almonds...

I mixed together 1 cup of milk, 1 cup of mixed berries, 6 drops of my Stevia sweetener, and 1/2 package of my Nuplus. Delish!! For dinner tonight I'm going to make Minestrone Soup and buy a baguette from a local bakery.

I weighed myself today, I'm at 143 lbs. Still maintaining! 143 is probably the lowest I've weighed in the wintertime in several years. Usually winter is when I put all my weight back on, so I'm happy with where I'm at right now!

Midnight Snack Attack!

2010-01-21T07:24:00.000-08:00

The late night snacking has to stop right here! It's been going on for a week now... Monday night was a brownie, Tuesday night was chips, salsa, and a cookie and then last night was a slice of pizza at 10pm. Ugh! I had gotten away from this bad habit for quite awhile, but now it's back. I hate it because I've been eating great throughout the whole day and then I totally blow it at night. So I'm going to try to get a handle on this starting tonight!! After dinner only Sparkling Water or Tea allowed!

I notice that my weight fluctuates two pounds... I'm holding steady between 142 and 144 lately. My goal is to get to 138 - 140. So if I can just get this late night snacking thing under control, I think I'll be on my way!

On Tuesday I went on an hour long hike with the husband and ended up getting 14,500 steps on my pedometer for the day! That's the highest I've tracked on my pedometer yet.

A Fast Food Reality Check!

2010-01-18T10:03:00.001-08:00

I ran across an interesting article this morning that I posted on my Facebook, a fast food reality check, what's advertised vs. what you really get. For example...

Arby's Beef & Cheddar- This is what's advertised:

But this is what you really get!

It got me thinking about how much my eating habits have changed in the past year or two.

My husband and I used to be total fast food junkies... McDonalds Sausage McMuffin with Egg and Hash Browns were a weekly staple on our breakfast menu. It was so easy to to drive-through and hey, it was cheap too! Breakfast at McDonalds is only 2 bucks each, can't really beat that!

We've come a long way! Now breakfast for me is coffee with cream (no sugar- ever!), my Nuplus Smoothie (14 fruits/veggies in a packet that I mix with juice to make a shake), and some kind of protein (usually an egg, a slice of deli turkey, or 2 tbsp almonds). No empty, nutritionless breakfast food for me anymore! :) I think this is definitely part of how I've been able to maintain my 9 pound weight loss this far.

My cousin suggested to me that I watch "Food, Inc". I have it on my Instant Netflix Queue ready to watch tonight, I've heard that it will definitely change the way you eat! For dinner tonight I'm making Chili and Cornbread. The cornbread is from the box. I'm not a complete health nut yet.

My Saturday So Far...

2010-01-16T10:58:00.000-08:00

Hmm... so far today I've eaten spaghetti for breakfast, brownies and a Coke for lunch, and I only have walked 2400 steps. Time to put the brakes on what shaping up to be an unhealthy Saturday!! That's it! I'm going to go for a walk right now and I will get 12,000 steps in today. I will eat a healthy snack this afternoon (pistachios, 1/2 banana, and some hot tea) and then something healthy for dinner. Something with some veggies would be great.

Tortilla Soup Recipe and goals for this week!

2010-01-13T08:31:00.000-08:00

Still maintaining! I can't complain though, that's not a bad thing. I ate at home alot last week, which I'm very proud of. A couple of the highlights... I made tortilla soup with chicken!

Tortilla Soup Recipe

1 small yellow onion
1 garlic clove
olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp chili powder
3/4 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 cup undrained canned tomatoes
1/2 tbsp thyme
6 cups chicken broth

Garnishes
sliced avocado
sliced grilled chicken
cilantro
corn tortilla strips briefly fried in canola oil
shredded cheese
sour cream

1. Thinly slice onion and crush garlic.
2. Pour a thin layer of oil into a medium-size saucepan. Simmer garlic and onion over low heat with the cover on until onions become translucent and soft.
3. Add chili powder, coriander, cumin, and tomatoes. Cook for 5 minutes, then add thyme and broth.
4. Bring soup to a simmer and cook for 20 to 25 minutes.
5. Strain; save broth.
6. Arrange your choice of garnishes in bowls. Divide broth evenly among bowls and serve.

I will definitely be making this again! Makes soup for two.

And thanks to LoserForLife's suggestion,I bought some Cha Siu Bao (Chinese Steamed Pork Buns) from Safeway and paired it with a side of broccoli.

I ate those a couple of times for lunch and dinner. Great for a quick meal!

For this week's meals, this is what I have planned so far!

*Spaghetti with garlic zucchini.

*Chili with cornbread.

*Chicken Soft Tacos with pinto beans.

My goals for the week!

*10,000 steps 3 days, 12,000 steps 2 days.

*Cook dinners 3 out of 5 nights.

*A dessert every third day.

*I really need to get back into food journaling on my Twitter account. It helps so much!!

Do you keep a food journal?

Too Good Not To Pass On

2010-01-06T09:01:00.000-08:00

I received this in an email and thought it was too good not to pass on!! These are all things I need to work on! :)

HANDBOOK For 2010

1. Drink plenty of water.

2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.

3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants..

4. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy
5. Play more games
6. Read more books than you did in 2009 .
7. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day
8. Sleep for 7 hours.
9. Take a 10-30 minutes walk daily. And while you walk, smile.

10. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

11. Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

12. Don't over do. Keep your limits.
13. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.
14. Dream more while you are awake
15. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need..
16. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with His/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.

17. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
18. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
19. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
20. Smile and laugh more.
21. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree...

22. Call your family often.
23. Each day give something good to others.
24. Forgive everyone for everything.
25. Spend time w/ people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
26. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
27. What other people think of you is none of your business.

28. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

29. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
30. However good or bad a situation is, it will change..
31. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
32. The best is yet to come..

Maintaining!!!

2010-01-05T08:07:00.000-08:00

So excited today, I got on the scale and I've actually been maintaining my weight! Breakthrough for me, I never maintain my weight... it seems like I either lose or gain and that's it! So that shows me that I'm making progress in my journey.

A few things that seem to be helping me:

*if I want to drink a Coke, I water it down halfway with sparkling water.

*eating slowly (last night my husband offered me potato chips, I took a handful but ate them very slowly, in small bites).

*afternoon tea (I'm making a ritual of sitting down and enjoying a cup of tea or two in the late afternoon before dinner, when I'm getting hungry).

*a piece of chocolate every morning with my coffee and an indulgent dessert every 3 days.

*walking 10,000 steps a day.

*cooking meals at home.

*writing down what I eat on my Twitter account (I got away from it last week but am planning on starting up again today).

So I'm going to continue doing these things and see how it goes. I really would like to get to my goal weight of 138 this month. I'm 4 pounds away!! I've planned for 3 dinners this week so far. I'm going to make Chicken Tortilla Soup, Skirt Steak with Tomato Corn Salad, and Chili with Cornbread. What are you cooking this week for dinner?

Chicken Pot Pie!

2009-12-28T09:01:00.000-08:00

The end of the year is almost here, which means a fresh start! But there are a few days left in 2009 that I'm going to try to take full advantage of. Last week didn't go that great, but I'm going to get right back on track today.

Last week I didn't cook all that much! We ate out alot... sushi, pizza, tacos, mu shu pork. I did cook a little though, I make Chicken Pot Pie for the first time!

My mom gave me the recipe and it turned out awesome!

Since my husband has a milk allergy, I didn't use any cream soups in it at all. Instead, I thickened the broth with a flour paste. I'm sure making it this way cut down on the fat content too! Here's the recipe:

Chicken Pot Pie (Makes 2 pies):

2-3 Chicken Breasts,
3 cups water,
grate 1 celery stalk and 1/2 red onion,
chop up 2 carrots, 2 more celery, the other 1/2 red onion, and 2 potatoes.
*cook on stove on medium heat until chicken is tender.

Scoop out chicken and vegetables and set aside. Blend 1/4 cup Flour with 1/2 cup Water to make a smooth paste and gradually whisk the paste into the simmering broth to thicken. And salt and pepper to taste.

Cut up chicken in chunks. Add veggies and chicken back into the broth. Add frozen peas and 1 can of white corn.

Put chicken filling in pie tin. Add Pie Crust (I used a boxed pie crust) and bake in oven according to Pie Crust instructions.

Goals for the week:

- 10,000 steps Mon- Sun on pedometer,

-No carbs at breakfast,

-Dessert every third day,

-Cook dinner 4 to 5 nights this week!!

But I need some ideas for dinners, I'm bored with all my usual meals! What are you cooking for dinner this week?

2009 Isn't Over Yet!

2009-12-14T08:23:00.000-08:00

Last night I finally felt the funk had completely lifted. I know there's only a couple of weeks left in 2009 and I would really like to finish off the year right. Most of the time I let things go at the end of the year and wait for January for a fresh start and new goals. But I think it would be nice to really accomplish something in these last few weeks of this year.

So, I've been looking back at some of the things that worked for me this year and some things that haven't. And I'm ready to make my goals for the week and make what's left of 2009 a success!

*10,000 steps a day Mon - Sun,

*Use my Twitter Account as my food journal,

*After 3 days in a row of healthful eating, I'll have a dessert,

*Skip the carbs at breakfast,

*Cook 4 homemade dinners this week.

I'm also getting out my copy of the book "French Women Don't Get Fat" and going to start reading it again. This book has really helped me in the past, so I'm going to try to read a couple of chapters this week. I love that book!!

Tortilla Recipe and Weekly Goals

2009-12-09T05:55:00.000-08:00

I had several people ask me for the recipe for the homemade tortillas I made so here it is. This is my mom's recipe, they're so good! Especially when they're warm off the pan!

My Mom's Hot and Fresh Tortillas

4 cups Unbleached Flour
1 Teaspoon Sea Salt
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
5 Tablespoons Canola Oil
Boiling Hot Water

Mix together 4 cups flour, 1 tsp salt, and 1 tsp baking powder. Mix in 5 level tablespoons of canola oil. Add a little boiling hot water at a time until mixture forms a non-sticky ball. Break off small ball and roll out tortillas on lightly floured surface. Cook in hot non-stick pan. Place in styrofoam round tortilla keeper w/ top to keep warm.

Yum! Now that I've written out that recipe, I could really go for a tortilla! :)

Ok, so I've been in some kind of funk lately. Not wanting to eat healthy, not wanting to wear my pedometer, not in the mood to cook, and not wanting to make my weekly goals. Maybe it's just me feeling lazy because it's cold outside, I don't know. I woke up this morning wanting to push out of it though, so I put on my pedometer and decided I'd blog first thing. Already feeling better! :)

My husband has been doing really well the last month fitness wise, he's gotten back into the routine of working out when he's at work (he's a firefighter and they have a FULL gym at his station, so he really has no excuses, ha!). So that's been encouraging to me. I know I should probably join a gym, but I HATE gyms! So for now I'll stick with my 10,000 steps and maybe add in some weights eventually.

Goals For The Week (even though I'm not feelin' it!)

*10,000 steps Wed to Sun!

*Cook 3 dinners this week!

*eat a fruit and/or a veggie with each meal!

3 simple goals that I know can do. Now to figure out what to make for dinner those 3 days...

Thursday: Meatloaf, green beans, mashed potatoes.

Saturday: Chicken and hummus wraps w/veggies.

Sunday: Tomato and basil brushetta.

A New Month And A Fresh Start!

2009-11-30T07:36:00.000-08:00

My goals for Friday to Sunday went pretty good! I got 10,000 steps Friday, 9,000 Saturday, but Sunday I didn't wear my pedometer. I went grocery shopping which helped with my other goals of no fast food and cooking meals at home.

I made homemade tortillas for the first time using my mom's recipe.

I put some grilled chicken, lettuce, cheese, and a little homemade ranch dressing on the tortilla. Yum!

We made spicy Szechuan Pork with carrots and celery.

And last night my husband made some comfort food... breaded chicken, mashed potatoes, and green beans. My husband grabbed the camera and took a picture of his plate! :)

So we ate some really good homecooked meals this weekend. I think cooking at home makes a huge difference! And tastes so much better!

My goals for the week:

*10,000 steps Monday - Sunday,

*Cook dinners at home Tues, Thurs, Fri, Sat, Sunday,

*Tea after dinner,

*Less carbs,

*Absolutely NO fast food,

*Two planned desserts this week.

And I want to try something different. Every night I'm going to plan my meals for the next day... breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner and post them on my Twitter Account. I'm hoping having it all planned out will help me stick to my plan and lose some weight. We'll see how it goes! I'm ready to make December a great month for losing weight!!!

What are your goals for the week?

Eww Fast Food!

2009-11-25T07:50:00.000-08:00

Well my back has been HURTING for a week and a half now. I've been limping around... and not even getting close to 10,000 steps a day! I haven't even gotten to use my new pedometer yet. :(

The good news is that I think my back is finally on the mend, so I'm ready to start trying for 10,000 steps again.

Between that and the two pies I made last week I'm a little off track!! I made a Pecan Pie for my husband because it's his favorite.

And a Lemon Meringue Pie for me because it's my favorite!

Besides the pies and not being able to walk my 10,000 steps a day, there has also been some fast food eaten this week! Eww, gross!!

So despite it being Friday, I'm making myself some goals for the rest of the weekend so I can hopefully get back on track.

Goals:

10,000 steps Friday, Saturday, Sunday,

Go grocery shopping today,

Cook healthy dinners Friday and Sunday,

No nasty fast food,

A small carb the size of the palm of my hand at each meal,

Tea after dinner.

I'm going to wait until Monday to do my weigh in. I have a feeling it's not going to be pretty! Sigh. But I feel good about this weekend. I definitely see a connection between my blogging and my weight loss. If I blog each week, I usually have a decent week of healthy eating. But when I don't blog, I forget what my goal is and end up eating whatever. So yay for blogging!!! :)

Weight Loss Happened This Week

2009-11-16T06:36:00.000-08:00

Well this was a great week for me because I actually lost some weight again! 2 1/2 pounds!! It's all such a rollercoaster though and I know I could gain it all back in a week, so I'm going to have to continue working hard and stay focused.

We ate out some days and I cooked some days too. I made Egg Drop Soup with Spinach...

And Chinese Fried Rice with lots of veggies added!

The rice turned out really good and I made some adjustments to our family recipe to make a healthier version. I still need to make more adjustments, like next time I think I will use chicken instead of bacon for the meat.

Chinese Fried Rice
2 cups of cold cooked white rice
1 bunch chopped green onion
2 1/2 cups bean sprouts
1/2 cup carrots chopped fine
1/2 cup frozen peas
3 pieces of cooked bacon, chopped
2 eggs scrambled and chopped
1 1/2 tbsp canola oil
3 tbsp soy sauce

Heat oil in large pan on medium heat. Stirfry rice, onions, bean sprouts, peas, and carrots. Add bacon and scrambled egg. Sprinkle with soy sauce until lightly covered.

It was so good and full of veggies. Next time I might even add some zucchini for even more veggies.

Goals this week:
*Buy a pedometer (mine broke),
*Walk 10,000 steps as much as I'm able to (I hurt my back yesterday and it HURTS to walk much right now. Once it heals, I will get back to my 10,000 steps),
*Cook dinner at home 5 days,
*Continue to eat intuitively,
*No snacking after 8pm,
*Drink a cup ofmy herbal cleansing tea after lunch and dinner,
*Eat a small piece of chocolate each morning with my coffee (it's helping me not crave sweets all day!!).

I read a great article in my Glamour Magazine last week with some awesome tips on how to realistically lose weight! I liked it so much, I thought I'd share the link to the article online... take a few minutes to read it, I think it had some great things to keep in mind: Eat! Drink! Enjoy! (And Still Lose Weight)