I am very proud of myself that I am on day 10, thats usually 8 days longer then the norm. The stuffed cabbage was delicious last night, that is definitely going to become a staple. Tonight will be Shrimp Quesadilla's with Guacamole again, the fave around here. Exercise like normal and the two challenges tonight.
I came across these lovely candles that glow different colors. Instead of the normal amber color you can have them glow blue, red, green, pink, etc... You can find them HERE. I love the birthday cake ones, they just look so festive!
I can only imagine how awesome the tea lights above would look in some of our candle holders. Like these... (to see the item click on the picture)
Happy St. Patty's Day! Its such a beautiful day here. A little cold but the sun it finally shining. Sometime I feel like I live in Washington how gloomy and wet its been lately. Yesterday I would up with soup and salad for dinner because I was too lazy to make the stuffed cabbage, but tonight I will make it instead. I did start the push up challenge last night though and I also found a push up one too, I will be doing those 3 nights a week. My stomach muscles are already feeling the pain, my arms don't hurt too much but they do feel good.
Hello everyone, hope your having a good week. Working around the house has been non stop and I look around again and see how much still needs to be done. We where told we get to rent our home for another year, so spring cleaning is in order. Yesterday I rushed around like a chicken with my head cut off and make the cornflake chicken again from last week because it was easy. Today is exercise with the Crunch again, some more cleaning, and then I am making stuffed cabbage for dinner.
Hi everyone! Happy Friday. The lasagna was delicious last night. My husband has a long weekend so the next three days will pretty much be the same thing. We usually eat out a lot or scrounge for what we can find around the house when we get hungry. Nothing is planned. If I try anything new I will let you know on Monday. Exercise wise we will be doing a lot of walking today and Saturday and then yard work on Sunday. It seems that I only lost a pound or two this week, its been fluctuating a lot. Hopefully by sometime next week my body will even out and I will start loosing weight on a constant basis. Also a girl I know posted this today The Hundred Push up Challenge. I am debating on doing it. What can it hurt right?
Aren't these chairs adorable for spring? These are another one of Martha Stewart's beauties. You could do this with any size or shape chair back, as long as you can find paper big enough. Tools and Materials Chairs (ones in picture are available at Ikea) Decorative Chair Backs How-To 2. Cut out template with craft knife, using a cutting mat. 3. Place patterned paper facedown on cutting mat. Place Craft-paper template on top, and trace. Cut out. 4. Attach paper to the back of the chair with glue. 6. With bone folder smooth out and get rid of any bubbles. 5. Let dry.
1. Unscrew chair back. Lay it on Craft paper. Trace outline with pencil (press chair back against paper as you trace to account for curve). 
So this week doesn't look like I am loosing anything. I actually gained a pound! It might actually by some muscle because my arms look huge but I feel like I am loosing weight. Hopefully the long term results will matter rather then the short term. Otherwise I will have to turn to using a diet pill too, since they always worked really well for me in the past. I decided to do it naturally this time because of all the problems that where happening with the pills. Literally every one I ever used and worked they took it off the market because it was killing people. I went on Hydroxycut a few time and it always worked but the last time I took it over a year ago I was doubled over in pain for 2 weeks. Then they recalled them. Recently I tried Zantrex3 and I had trouble breathing and sleeping so after those 2 experiences I was scared a bit.
8 ounces Lasagna noodles, preferably whole-wheat
1 pound Lean spicy Italian turkey sausage, casings removed (see Variation)
4 cups Sliced mushrooms (10 ounces)
1/4 cup Water
1 pound Frozen spinach, thawed
1 28-ounce Can crushed tomatoes, preferably chunky
1/4 cup Chopped fresh basil
Salt & freshly ground pepper to taste
1 pound Part-skim ricotta cheese (2 cups)
8 ounces Part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded (about 2 cups), divided
2. Cook noodles in the boiling water until not quite al dente, about 2 minutes less than the package directions. Drain; return the noodles to the pot, cover with cool water and set aside.
3. Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat. Add sausage and cook, crumbling with a wooden spoon, until browned, about 4 minutes. Add mushrooms and water; cook, stirring occasionally and crumbling the sausage more, until the sausage is cooked through, the water has evaporated and the mushrooms are tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Squeeze spinach to remove excess water, then stir into the pan; remove from heat.
4. Mix tomatoes with basil, salt and pepper in a medium bowl.
5. To assemble lasagna: Spread 1/2 cup of the tomatoes in the prepared baking dish. Arrange a layer of noodles on top, trimming to fit if necessary. Evenly dollop half the ricotta over the noodles. Top with half the sausage mixture, one-third of the remaining tomatoes and one-third of the mozzarella. Continue with another layer of noodles, the remaining ricotta, the remaining sausage, half the remaining tomatoes and half the remaining mozzarella. Top with a third layer of noodles and the remaining tomatoes.
6. Cover the lasagna with foil and bake until bubbling and heated through, 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes. Remove the foil and sprinkle the remaining mozzarella on the lasagna. Return to the oven and bake until the cheese is just melted but not browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Good Morning! Today is day 3, and yesterdays work out kicked my butt. As much as I don't feel that sore today, I barely made it through the workout and I passed out at 5 for a few hours. But because of that I know its going to work, since I use to only use the Wii fitness and I never felt that I couldn't finish a workout. Today I will be doing it again.
Its suppose to be beautiful here today with temps in the high 60's, so hopefully I will have enough time to clean off my decks and gett ready for this weekends complete overhaul of the yard.
So todays menu consists of the same for breakfast and lunch, but dinner will be one of my specialties.... Shrimp Quesadillas! Its a recipe I found from Rachael Ray but modified to make it better for me.
Ingredients
1 cup of chopped red onion
Extra Virgin Olive Oil Light (enough to coat pan and griddle)
1 pound of large shrimp, peeled and deveined
Salt and Pepper
2 table spoons of lime juice
1/4 cup of parsley
8 large flour tortillas
1 cup of skim mozzarella shredded
1 cup of skim Mexican blend shredded cheese
1 cup frozen corn kernels
2 avocados, chopped
Preparation
1. In a pan cook onion in 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the shrimp, season with salt and pepper and cook for 2-3 minutes. Let mixture cool and toss with lime juice and parsley.
2. Place tortilla on work surface and sprinkle with 1/4 cups of combined Mozzarella and Mexican cheese. Top with 1/4 cup of corn, enough of the shrimp mixture to cover the cheese and corn. Season with salt and pepper and set another tortilla on top. Repeat with remaining tortillas.
3. On a griddle put enough olive oil (lightly) and lightly brush both side of the Quesadillas with it. Add Quesadillas to pan and cook turning once, until crisp. Repeat with the remaining Quesadillas. Let cool and cut into wedges.
4. (For Guacamole) In another bowl combine the rest of the onion and shrimp mixture with the sliced avocados. Toss with 1/2 tablespoon of lime juice and parsley. Season with salt, pepper and cumin to taste. Chop and mush to desired texture.
(For Salad) In another bowl combined a sliced red onion and slice avocados with 1/2 tablespoon of lime juice. Season with salt, pepper and cumin to taste.
Today's menu will be exactly like yesterdays, breakfast (egg sandwich), Lunch (salad), and Dinner (left overs from last night). Everything tasted delicious, I think I would go a little less on the chicken rub, and my picky husband even said the potatoes where the best he's ever had and he loved the chicken so I guess that's going to become a normal weekly meal. Today I will start my 2 weeks workout with "Fat Burning Dance Party" by Crunch. I love to dance, and I know its a great workout!
Exercise will consist of doing the laundry, cleaning the dishes, and running errands. Nothing to big but Mondays are my days to get stuff done. Real exercise will start tomorrow in the early am with the Fat Burning Dance Party DVD by Crunch. I love dancing so a lot of the regimes I will be doing will have to do with dance, some like the Wii fitness will not. During the day if I feel I need something I will eat yogurt, pretzels, or for something sweet a low fat cookie.
Breakfast:
Jimmie Dean's D-lights Canadian bacon, honey wheat muffin, egg white, and cheese sandwich. (I love these! They taste allot like McDonalds egg mcmuffins). It suppose to be 1/2 the fat and 1/3 fewer calories then other breakfast sandwiches. Its 230 calories and 4.5 grams of fat.
Lunch:
Salad with cut up tomatoes
2 tablespoons of fat free shredded cheese (I like the Mexican blend or mozzarella)
2 tablespoons of fat free honey Dijon dressing by Teresa's
1/4 cup of shredded chicken (I use the Purdue cut breasts unless I have left over chicken breasts from dinner then I use those)
Mix together and eat!
**My breakfast and lunch will be pretty much the same thing every day unless I have left overs that need to be finished.
Dinner:
Tonight's dinner recipes where all found on www.3fatchicks.com.
Side Dish:
Parmesan Sage Potato Wedges
1 large (6 oz) potato, well scrubbed, cut into 1/4″ wedges
2 cups cold water
1 tsp. oil
1 T. Parmesan
1/8 tsp. each salt and sage
dash pepper
Bring water and potatoes to a boil, until crisp tender (4 or 5 minutes). Rinse with cold water until cool. Pat dry. Heat oil in a nonstick pan. Saute potatoes until lightly browned. Sprinkle with cheese and seasonings
It serves 2 and is 82 calories with 3 grams of fat.
Main Dish:
Cornflake Chicken
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, flattened
1 cup cornflake crumbs
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp poultry seasoning
1/2 cup skim milk
Recipe directions
Combine cornflake crumbs and seasonings in shallow bowl. Soak chicken in milk then dredge chicken in crumb mixture. Place on baking sheet which has been sprayed with nonstick spray. Bake at 400* about 25 minutes or until lightly browned.
159 calories and 1.5 grams of fat serves 4
For a Veggie I will be doing Green Giant Steamers: white corn with a little smart balance butter (which is excellent you can't tell a difference) and salt. About 100 calories
Whole meal will be about 341 calories!
Hey everyone, hope you all had a good weekend. As I mentioned on Friday it was my mothers birthday on Saturday, so we spent part of the day walking through the local gardens soaking in the sun and warmer temps, then we spent the rest of the weekend talking about our exciting family trip that we will be talking at the end of the year. Well, between that and summer approaching I think its time to get my butt into gear and go on a diet. Its something that I always talk about, do for 2 days and then go back to my original habits.
Tracking my weight loss for my wonderful readers to watch, I feel might actually keep me going, hopefully for a while. I will be posting the recipes of every meal I eat and my likes and dislikes in them. So I will be scouring the web, magazines, and my diet cookbooks for great recipes that can become a staple in my house. Then at the end of each week I will let you all know how much I have lost. I will also be trying different types of exercise videos, the Wii fitness games, and some weeks will probably be just dependant on the diet. I already drink water, I have stopped drinking soda all together unless I am out to eat then I drink Sprite (just a note if you are doing this with me).
I don't expect you guys to hold my hand and support me through this, if you feel like saying something, sending me some good recipes, or even doing the diet with me, please do! But I am not expecting anything except my feeling of obligation to live up to my blog.
So today starts my 6 month endeavour :-)
(picture and idea from Martha Stewart)
For this weeks mid week blues I wanted to brighten up your day with some beautiful blue rooms, if you want to see more all the pictures where found at House of Turquoise. Today, here in the southeast its horrible out. A nor'easter and its raining AGAIN! So these pictures really lightened the mood and made me crave summer. Hope they do the same for you. Don't work too hard and have a great day :-)
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The Blue Lagoon
For a cheaper version of the table in the original picture get a plain wood table from any craft store and then stain it with sealant. If your using the above couch you will want to stain it one step darker then the wicker color, so almost black. Target has a table for $152 that would fit well with it (see below).
For the little added touches such as the carpet, its not quite the same but its pretty none the less, for only $83 (5'3" by 7'6"). Then there are the pillows, which can get expensive. For another option, make your own! They should only take about 5-10 minutes per pillow to make and half the price. If your not sure how to do this google it, there are so many sites out there that will fit your needs.
©2009Sunday Morning Blog | by TNB
