Day 1 and Day 2 of Eating Right

I did really well if I may say so myself!

Day 1 I stayed under 1500 calories

and even had a beer.

Day 2 I was under 1200 calories.

 

I ate lots of veggies, some fruits, lean meat and good grains.

I wrote everything down and added up the Carbs, Proteins, Fats and Calories that I ate to keep a good proportion of everything.

 

Actually I feel like I'm eating more than I usually do.

The only thing I hate about doing this is all the planning and journaling everything,

but,

I know it will be worth it in the end.

 

Tonight I'm making Spinach Lasagna Roll-ups for dinner.

I found the recipe on Pinterest and the actual recipe is from

Gal on a Mission....to make the BEST recipes loved by all

(I borrowed her photo also)

 

 

http://www.galonamission.com/spinach-lasagna-roll-ups/

 

I doubled the recipe and made 35 out of the lasagna noodles for the family

and then I had 2 portabella mushrooms.

 that I put a serving of the cheese mixture in for me.

I added some garlic powder, pepper and oregano to the cheese mixture too

 because we like things spiced up around here.

 

They were so yummy easy to make!

 

My Attempt at a Valentines Day Dinner

I tried to make the kids a cute Valentines Dinner,

but it didn't turn out quite the way I wanted it to.

 

 

Mallory and Jace didn't seem to mind though.

We had heart shaped cinnamon rolls, bacon and eggs.

 

It's the thought the counts right?!?!?



Saturday Savings on Sunday

I'm a day late and a dollar short!

 

Yep, that's me!

 

 

I've never been a fan of beans except green beans, refried beans and baked beans,

 

BUT.....

 

I am learning to really like them!

 

My mom is an excellent cook and always put so much effort to make sure we had well balanced meals.  I really liked everything she made

 

EXCEPT

 

I can think of 4 things that I absolutely hated.

 

Navy Beans slow cooked

Liver and Onions

Potato Soup

and

Mexican Pie

 

When I came home from school and almost threw up from the smell of navy beans cooking or saw the disgusting looking red meat laid out on the counter I tried to either eat at a friends house or fall asleep before dinner.  I absolutely WOULD NOT eat those 3 meals.

The Mexican Pie just looked gross to me.

Hamburger, corn, black olives (which I hated back then too!) and other yucky stuff.

I remember stuffing bites of that under the table cloth and squishing it down.

By doing that I now realize that I was being as gross as the  Mexican Pie was.

Sorry Mom!

The potato soup was just nasty looking to me.

Mom makes hers with chopped potatoes, celery, onions, butter and lots of milk.

I hate white milk to drink and the potato soup looked like milk with things floating in it.

 

 

In life everything changes and so did my taste buds........

slowly,

but the did change quite a bit.

 

 

 

It all started when someone at the Dr.'s office I used to work at brought in chili for lunch one day.  They had chili beans in it and a thick sauce to the chili. 

I'd never liked chili before, but fell in love with this one.

So chili with chili beans became not only acceptable, but one of my favorite meals!

 

Then Earl ordered me a burrito and it came with rice and black beans on it.

I was really hungry so I ate it and it was so good!!

Now I put black beans in all my Mexican food.

 

When I went home to Kansas a couple of years ago my sister-in-law made ham and beans for dinner. I wanted to be polite so I tasted it.....

and much to my surprise it was delicious!!

So now during the winter I make ham and beans with beer bread every few weeks.

 

Well, we are so broke and last week I Googled "Recipes for low income people" and found lots of,

 

of course,

 

bean recipes.

 

I decided to go on and give it a go with a positive attitude so I tried

Black Bean Soup first and then Lentil Soup.

 

I googled a recipe and then adjusted it to the ingredients I had and it turned out SO GOOD!

 

I used 4 cans of black beans

sauted chopped carrots, celery, onion, and green pepper in olive oil

a can of diced tomatoes

a can of cream of mushroom soup

beef broth

and cumin, salt, pepper, garlic powder, etc....

 

After everything cooked for about 6 hours

I used the whizzer and made the soup lumpy, but smooth and creamy.

 

This soup was so good!!!

 

This isn't my photo, but this is how my soup looked.



 

 

 

Again, not my photo, but the general idea of how my Lentil soup looked.

 

 

So my Saturday Savings tip is to give beans a shot!

 

They are cheap and oh so yummy!!

 

 

I'm still not up to trying Navy Beans.....I think I was traumatized with those, but I'm sure enjoying other types of beans.

 

A Super Easy and Oh So Yummy Dessert!

Last night the kids and I made these super easy and yummy desserts.

I got the recipe from Pinterest, but it came from Come Together Kids blog.

It didn't take much to make them.

5 waffle cones

a tiny bit of peanut butter

1 banana

1/3 cup mini marshmallows

1/3 cup chocolate chips

and some foil to wrap them up in.

They were really good and the perfect size to get a bit of yumminess

without over doing it.

My Yummy HomeMade Breakfast

I started making my own Greek yogurt several weeks ago

and I must say

I do a pretty darn good job at making it.

This yogurt is so good and low in calories and fat.

I use 1%  milk to make mine.

I found the recipe on Pinterest, but here is the link for it

http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/homemade-ingredients/homemade-greek-yogurt/

The other night I made some granola to add to my yogurt and YUM!

I didn't measure I just kinda dumped,

but here's the jist of what I did.

I thawed a can of frozen apple juice and dumped it in my mixing bowl

then I had a bag of whole almonds and I whized those

in the whizzer to a slightly chunky consistency.

I grabbed a couple hand fulls of crasions and threw those in

then I just added oatmeal until I had a consistency that was wet, but not drippy.

Moist though not to dry.

I added approx. 3 tablespoons of honey, a dash of nutmeg

and a couple of teaspoons of cinnamon.

and then mixed it all up and baked it on 300 degrees

until the granola started to brown a little.

I also stirred it around a few times.

It smells so good!!

Then I let the granola cool and put it in a gallon sized baggie and

WhA-La!

I have a great breakfast, snack or even a kinda sorta replacement for ice cream.

I

Getting Creative on a Budget

Jace got invited to a little girl at schools birthday party this weekend.

So, I got busy sewing.

 I made her a tic-tac-toe fabric board and felt X & O pieces

 a lined bag to put the game & pieces in

 and a fleece boa style scarf and two hair pom-poms for her ponytail.

 I bought 1 yard of fleece and was able to get 2 scarves

(one for a child and one for a toddler)

8 larger hair pompoms

&

8 medium hair pompoms.

Not to bad for a piece of fabric that cost me $4.54!

I also made some things for a Peppermint Pixie swap I was in.



 I had the doll pieces already and I just added pipe cleaners for the body,

a felt dress, a crocheted shawl with a matching hat and

I crocheted the legs and added little pompoms for shoes.

I also added little candycanes for the pixies wings.

Not to bad for things I had on hand.

Then I made a mitten ornament out of felt and added a plastic candy cane.

I also made a candy cane matchbox ornament

and some goodies for the inside that I had on hand.

I painted some clothespins & homemade peppermint bark.

I've been trying to become more frugal and creative at the same time.

I think I did pretty good!

My Movie Review....a little outdated!

Last night I half heartily started watching the movie Julie & Julia.  I really didn't think I'd like it....why you might ask...I don't know, I just didn't.

I LOVED the movie.  It was so inspirational, heart warming and even educational. 

 I could so relate with Julie

and learned a lot about Julia Childs. 

Loved, loved, loved it!!

I feel so inspired today!!

******************************************************

I also watched Seven Pounds with Will Smith.

I thought it would be good with Will Smith in it.....

and then it started.

I was kinda confused and glad I didn't save the movie to watch with the kids

But then,

OMG!  It was so good!!

Once I got into it and understood what was going on

I LOVED it!

So much emotion and love.

I couldn't even imagine what I would do if I was in the same situation as Tim was in the movie.  I have thought about that many times and I think I would just curl up and die.  Such a good movie!

*********************************************************

I've been dying to read a Harlan Coben or Kevin O'Brien book,

but we're without a car again and I can't get to the library.

Hopefully, we'll get it back soon

until then

I hope there are some more decent movies on tv!!

If the Pot Fits

If the pot fits....make soup!

Earl has 2 big pots and the Jace and Anthony were playing in them so Jake put them on the stove for Jace and Anthony Soup.

I think they are cute enough to eat!

We're GOING To Have Meatloaf For Dinner, Darn It!

Okay, I wanted meatloaf for dinner last night and Mallory was like, "Oh mom, I hate meatloaf, please don't make meatloaf." So I made hamburgers and french fries last night, but I was going to make meatloaf today....because, well, I really wanted meatloaf. So about an hour before Earl gets home from work I get ready to start making my meatloaf. That's when the headache began!

1. No spray Pam---Okay, easily solved, I used olive oil and lightly greased my pan.
2. No bread crumbs---Okay, again easily solved, I'll use crackers.
3. NO Crackers---Okay, what to do??? I know, I'll get the food processor out and crush up that bag of bread cubes in the cupboard that are for leftover from the stuffing at Christmas. No problem!
4. PROBLEM---The food processor HATES me!! It will never work for me, BUT this time at least I tried turning it on before I put anything into it and dirtied up. Smart thinking on my part if I do say so myself! Okay, I'll just use the rolling pin to mash the bread cubes.
5. WHERE IS THE ROLLING PIN?????---the rolling pin is missing. Damn it! I'm getting really frustrated by now. I AM GOING TO MAKE MEATLOAF FOR DINNER THOUGH! I'm more determined than ever now!
6. Solution---I put the bread cubes in a big baggie, sealed it up and then put it on the floor and used my heals to squish those stupid bread cubes.
7. Okay, now my meatloaf is all mixed up and ready to put in the pan. What???? No tomatoes at all in the cupboard. What the hell???? Thank goodness Earl calls before he leaves work to see if I need anything from the store so he picked up my tomatoes. Whew!

So yes, I won!! We did finally have meatloaf for dinner and it actually turned out pretty good. I really hope that tomorrow nights dinner is easier to make!

Oh, by the way, Earl gets home and plugs in the stupid food processor and it starts working right away for him and then he says, "Why didn't you use the bread crumbs in the big can sitting over there?" I'm like, "Where, I looked all over the shelf where we keep them." Earl says,"No, there on the floor over there in front of the other set of cabinets." Of course they were and why didn't I look on the floor for the bread crumbs???? Only in my house!

Crafts, Decorating and Family Time

I've just been sewing and decorating this weekend and of course taking some naps here and there. Here is a picture of the kids peeling apples the night before Thanksgiving. They made an apple pie that turned out really yummy! Good job guys!

A Variety of Things Today

This is a Sneak Peak of my first ever Annie doll that is going to Valerie. Valerie should get her tomorrow and I'm so excited to see if she likes her. I was pretty happy with how she turned out and think that Annie's could easily become an addiction. I've already got a couple more started.


This is my tag that I made for Jenny of Fated Follies Majestic Feathers Tag Swap. Stop by Jenny's blog to see all of the other tags. They are all so beautiful and yet so different. Thanks for all of your work Jenny!


I won this cute little key chain and little card holder from Denise of Polka Dot Moon a couple of weeks ago during her blogiversary week. Karen from Venzie Bags let me pick out the fabric and then I had this cute little set in just a couple of days. Thanks Denise and Karen so much!!

Today is Earl's Birthday and he is playing hookie from work. Yay Earl!!! The poor guy works so hard he deserves a day off. Of course he is catching up on his odd jobs and still working his second job. I guess there's "No rest for the wicked!" Ha! Ha! Earl. He also made this yummy salsa today. It's so good and nothing beats Earl's fresh salsa! Thanks hon!!

I'm Really Enjoying Cooking Again!

I absolutely hated cooking at our old place and Earl usually did all of the cooking. Actually, my younger kids thought that I didn't know how to cook. Anyway, at the new house I have cooked all but about 3 nights out of almost a month. It's been so much fun and then Earl bought us a dining room table and it's even more fun now because we can all sit and eat together as a family. At the old house we just ate in the living room in front of the TV. Good parenting, I know! We started saying a prayer before dinner since we are now eating at a table and last night Mallory went and got a prayer book and picked out a prayer to read before dinner. They are enjoying the whole change in our eating routine and so am I. I love this house!!!

This is some chicken fried steak I made the other night.

I haven't made that in years. We had mashed potatoes and corn with it.

Yum!! It was good!

Earl bought a really nice griddle several years ago and I think we only used it a couple of times. I've been cooking on it quite a bit lately and it is really nice!

Last night I made bacon, homemade hash browns and omelets.

This morning I got up and used my griddle again and made Earl an omelet and hash browns for breakfast and sent him some for lunch. The guys at work have been teasing him because I've not only been packing him a lunch, but sending him with so much food. It's about time I took care of Earl a little bit! He always does so much for me!

I also made pancakes for the kids this morning before school.

They were pretty happy with that!

Anyway, have a great day and enjoy whatever it is your doing!

And try to stay warm in this Artic Blast!!!

PreThanksgiving Preparation & Fun!

As the Pumpkin Pies that Mallory & Jace made and I got to be a "helper" on, finished baking

Three little monkeys made Monkey Bread for the first time.

Mallory cut the dough balls into 4 pieces, Jace put the pieces into the bowl and Ezie tossed the cinnamon sugar around on the dough balls. Then they all had fun putting the little cinnamony balls into the "cool" pan. Jace added a couple of extra scoops of cinnamon onto the top of the monkey bread when no one was looking because he is a "helper". Oh well! He had fun!

Then for the goo and the fridge until morning.

Hopefully it turns out yummy!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!!