Silly Kids and Running Again

Oh boy did I have some yummy oatmeal this morning! I may have found my favorite way to make oatmeal. I used steel cut oats and cooked them according to the package directions (sort of). It said to bring the water to a boil and add the oats and stir until it thickened then let it simmer of 30 minutes. Well, I boiled the water, added the oats and stirred them, waited a little while for them to thicken, but never really saw that happen. So I turned it down to simmer and set the timer or 30 minutes. About 10 minutes later they were done. I guess I didn't turn it down far enough, but they were really good just like that and took way less time than I thought they would, so I'm not complaining. I added about two tablespoons of nonfat vanilla yogurt and some slivered almonds to it. It was perfect.

After breakfast we took the hubster to work (oh how I can't wait for him to get a car, hopefully that will be happening soon).  When we got there my 3 of my 4 kids climbed into the wall and told me to take a picture and put it on my blog.  They're so stinkin' silly!  So, to honor my word, here you go...three monkey boys.

I decided to stick with what I said in my post the other day about doing the Couch to 5K program anytime I get to the gym.  I did the first week training again since it had been so long since I did it before.  Here are my results....yep, I'm slow.  But hey, at least I'm doing it!  I'll get better.  I'm one step closer to reaching my goal.

Then we came home and I had my favorite salad. Egg over easy with paprika, over spinach and arugula tossed with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar, along with some goat cheese and sunflower kernels.  I think I could eat this a couple of times a week and not get sick of it.  It's that good.

Okay, don't get jealous, but my dinner was amazing!  Seriously, amazing.  I made Kale Chips and followed this recipe from Kath Eats Real Food.  Then we had Italian Sausage and Goat Cheese Portobello Pizzas that I found here on Get Healthy With Heather.  Oh my goodness, put aside the fact that I have a crazy love affair going on with goat cheese right now, trust me when I say these Portobello Pizzas are the bees knees.  I definitely see these little beauties being added to dinner rotation on a regular basis.  Everyone loved them (even those three crazy monkey boys in the picture above).  The kale chips were outstanding too.  One monkey in particular even asked if I could put them in lunches for school.  That's a success in my book.

In other breaking news....after way too long having a dead battery that wouldn't recharge, my Roomba is back in action!  I'm in no vacuuming heaven.

It's the Little Things...

Today started unlike most other Sundays around our house...we weren't busy. Somehow it seems like no matter how early I get up on Sundays we're never ready on time to leave for church. However this morning I'm not sure what happened, but not only were we ready on time, but we had extra time and the hubster even ran to the store before we left.
With all that extra time I did something I rarely do on a Sunday. I sat down and had breakfast.  A yummy breakfast of an over easy egg, toast with blackberry simply fruit jelly, and a glass of fresh squeezed juice.  The juice had one whole orange, 1/4 grapefruit, one whole lemon, and a little bit of pineapple.  Mmmmm....

So, I need to go to the grocery store pretty desperately.  After church I leaned over to the hubs and said, "we have nothing at home to eat for lunch unless you want a big fruit salad."  He leaned over and gave me a kiss : )  Then he took us to one of my favorite local restaurants, Kerbey Lane Cafe.  Oh my goodness everything there is so good.  Since breakfast had gone so well earlier in the morning I decided to go for it again.  This time it wasn't as healthy.  I got the Eggs Francisco; english muffin topped with fresh tomato, scrambled eggs, bacon, avocado, and queso.  Now, 6 months ago if I had ordered this I would have gotten a shortstack of gingerbread pancakes and covered them in syrup.  Not today!  Today I made a healthier choice.  I got black beans and a fruit salad.  The black beans were a great addition to the eggs.  I know it's not the healthiest breakfast, I mean it had bacon and queso.  But, I think little things like not getting the pancakes and getting something healthy instead add up.  I also realized that it really doesn't need bacon and I can probably order the queso on the side and use way less.  So, I have a plan for next time too.

I was so full from lunch that I completely skipped dinner.  I've just been drinking lots of water (lots of salt in that bacon and queso). 
We have a busy week ahead I'm really looking forward to it.  I'm taking the boys back to school shopping.   Lord help us all!

Ah...A New Day and Couch to 5k Thoughts

Yesterday was one humdinger! I was so glad to get that day behind me. And what a difference the fresh start of a new day can make! First, look at all these flowers my sweet hubs brought me.  Way to brighten up my gloomy mood!

I started this morning with overnight oats.  This time a made them a little different than before.  I used 1/2 cup rolled oats, 1 tbsp ground flaxseed, 1/2 cup Unsweetened Organic Vanilla Almond Milk, and 1/2 cup Nonfat Vanilla Yogurt.  I added chopped pecans and a teaspoon of maple syrup this morning.  So, here are my thoughts on the overnight oatmeal.  It's a great concept.  My problem is that I like my oatmeal a bit more chewy.  Does that make sense?  I'm going to see if there's a way to do this with steel cut oats.  I think that would turn out more to my liking.  Also, this one was too sweet, just too much vanilla.  I'm thinking regular milk and vanilla yogurt next time.  I'm not giving up on this!  I think there's definite potential I just need to find a recipe that works for me.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I had breakfast before the sun even came up! I had to meet a friend at 7am this morning and wanted to make sure I ate before I left. I can't remember the last time I was up that early. We met to sign our kids up for something and then went to grab some coffee together. It's been two weeks since I've had coffee and I decided not start again today. So, I had a bottle of water. A small victory in my corner!

Lunch was decent.  Nothing special.  I'm beginning to tire of smoked salmon.  Once this piece that I bought is gone I think it will be a while before I buy it again.  Today I had honey smoked salmon topped with goat cheese, and a side of fruit salad.  The salad was yummy!

We have some sweet friends that are moving from Austin to Denver and they invited a bunch of us to dinner at one of their favorite local burger joints for a going away dinner.  It was sad, but I'm really happy for the journey they're getting ready to take in their lives.  So this little burger place serves two things, burgers and hotdogs that have been cut up and mixed in chili.  Yeah, not any healthy options.  I ordered a burger and about half way through realized I was full and stopped.  Yea for another small victory!  Now just to repeat, repeat, repeat : )

It's been so unbelievably hot here so I've been drinking tons and tons of water.  Even my kids are asking for water (no milk or juice, just water).  The heat is awful and I'm ready for Fall.

I've been thinking a lot about the Couch to 5k program.  I really want to do it.  I really want to train and run a 5k in the Fall.  I keep starting and stopping because of our schedule.  Since the hubster and I share a car it's hard to know for sure when I'll make it to the gym to run on the treadmill (there's no way I'm going to start running in this heat).  It's a real pain.  So, I decided that I'm just going to do it.  Every time I get to the gym I'm going to do the program.  I'll keep doing each level until I feel ready to move on to the next level.  It may take me a little longer but at least I'll be getting it done!  I'm ready to meet one of my goals.  It's time to stop just thinking that I need to do it and just do it!

What about you?  Is there anything you need to stop thinking about and just do?

**by the way...my birthday is next month and I've asked the hubs for a new camera.  Hopefully I'll be getting some decent pictures up soon**

I Almost Lied

Hmmmmm....so this has been a day.
Let's just start at the beginning.  For breakfast I had an overeasy egg with toast and simply fruit blackberry jelly, along with a bunch o' water.

Oh and this is how I eat it.  Egg and toast in one big yummy bite.

Here's lunch.  Honey Smoked Salmon over spinach, arugula, and green leaf lettuce tossed in olive oil and balsamic vinegar with goat cheese.

And here's where I thought about telling a big fat lie.  I thought about telling you that I had chicken and rice for dinner.  And really that was the plan.  Until I pulled it out of the fridge and it smelled weird so I threw it away.  Then something happened and I lost it.  Today was super stressful and I think it just all boiled over into one big binge fest.  It started with a bowl of Frosted Mini-Wheats.  Frosted Mini-Wheats people!  What the heck?  Then I moved on to a Red Baron Single Serving Pizza.  At this point I was full (of course I was I just ate a load of crap) and it was time to put the boys to bed.  I got them all in bed and came back downstairs to eat an ice cream bar.  Why did I have all this junk in my house?  Ummm...coupons.  I'm getting ready to throw them all out.
And that was it.  After a day that went pretty well in the eating realm, the real life realm got to me and I blew it in the end.  It sucks.  But you know what?  I'm not eating anymore tonight and tomorrow is a new day.  I've already had 96 ounces of water and maybe I'll pee away some of the salt I consumed ; )

Weekly Weigh-in...and Goat Cheese

Okay so for the weekly weigh-in results, are you ready?  Are you sure you're ready? I weighed in today at 184.2 lbs.  So, not only did I not gain back any of the weight I lost on the detox, but I lost another .4 lbs.  Not a lot of weight, but after going back to eating regular food I thought I would gain.  Definitely not lose.  And it's only been 4 days since my last weigh in.  So I am pleased as punch : )  Looking forward to seeing what this next week holds.

I started my day with some overnight oatmeal. 

Have you ever had overnight oatmeal?  I hadn't until today and let me tell you, I will be having them again!  They were fantastic.  I saw this post about overnight oatmeal and decided to give it a try.  If you haven't checked out the post make sure you do.  There are some super great ideas for overnight oats.  Mine were pretty simple.  I used 1/2 cup rolled oats, 1/2 cup greek nonfat yogurt, 1/2 cup low fat organic milk, and 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed.  When I heated it up this morning (I tried it cold, but wasn't a fan) I added a tablespoon of pure organic maple syrup.  So yummy!  Today I bought some vanilla yogurt because I think that will make it even better.  Oh and some chopped pecans.  Now that would be amazing. 

For lunch I had one of my favorite salads with a new variation....goat cheese.  Oh my goodness.  Goat Cheese is new for me.  I keep reading about goat cheese over on this blog.  I thought it looked like feta and I like feta, so I thought I'd give it a try.  I was wrong.  Goat cheese out shines, out classes, out does feta by a mile.  It's creamy and it's awesome.  Today I had the amazing goat cheese with spinach and arugula tossed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, topped with sunflower kernels and an over easy egg.  Delish I tell you.  Delish.

Tonight our friends came over for dinner.  It was my turn to cook and I made some amazing pulled pork tacos.  I got the recipe a couple of years ago from another blog, but it's no longer around.  So, I'll share the recipe with you.  Now, don't go thinking this is a healthy recipe because it's on this blog.  It's not healthy, but it's great.  My husband says he would eat this everyday for the rest of his life if he could.

Pulled Pork Tacos

1 large pork roast
20 ounces Coke or Dr Pepper (not diet)
16 ounces Red Taco Sauce (this is usually in the Mexican Food section of the grocery store)
1 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons cumin

Place roast in a crockpot and cover half way in water.  Cook on low for 8-10 hours.  Drain water and add the rest of the ingredients.  Cook on low another 4-6 hours.   Using two forks shred the meat and cook on low for 2 more hours. 
Serve with tortillas, chopped cilantro, diced sweet onion, cilantro cream sauce.  (I find our cilantro cream sauce in the refrigerated section of the produce department at our local grocery store, but I bet if you search online for a recipe you'd probably find one).  Also, I just give time ranges because it doesn't matter if you're exact with how long you cook it. 
Enjoy for a cheat meal : )

 I also got in a Crunch Pilates and Yoga Blend workout this afternoon (I am so sore from yesterday's workout that I could barely get through it) as well as 80 ounces of water.  Good day.  Good day indeed.

My Stomach is NOT a Waste Basket

I decided that for right now Thursday is going to be my weigh in day. So tomorrow you'll get an update on how I've done since I finished the detox! Do you think I gained, lost or stayed the same?

Breakfast this morning was yum-o! I had an over easy egg, whole wheat toast with simply fruit blackberry jelly, and a glass of fresh squeezed orange, pineapple, and grapefruit juice.  The juice wasn't stellar.  It was a little too sweet for me.  I think it was too much pineapple or that I didn't add a lemon or lime. 

Smoked Salmon, oh how I love you!  Especially when you're honey smoked.  I'd never had this kind of smoked Salmon before but they had it at Costco so I decided to pick some up.  I'm so glad I did.  It was delish!  I also had carrot sticks, huge grapes, and Light Babybel cheese.

After lunch I decided to do my workout.  We couldn't get to the gym, but I still got my workout in at home.  I did the Biggest Loser: Cardio Max Workout.  It's so hard, but so awesome.  I've done this workout several times before and this was the first time I got through all the cardio bursts.  Today I saw this post that gave 10 reasons not to get up early in the morning.  They were pretty funny and basically said that you should get up early.  I just wanted to add one.  Do not get up early if you want to completely distracted by your children while attempting to exercise.  I was pretty dang proud of myself for getting through it all.  See here I am all happy and sweaty after I was done; because Sweat is Beautiful.  Yes, my hair is a total mess : )

For dinner I heated up some falafal balls and made some more of my fantastic cucumber dressing.  I also had some fruit salad which included apple, pear, nectarine, grapes, and cherries, as well as a salad with spinach and arugula topped with fat free feta and olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  I was FULL when I was done.

I've had about 72 ounces of water to drink.  Although it's not as much as I normally drink I was a total hermit today because it's too dang hot to go outside right now.  So, I stayed inside and just wasn't as thirsty.
Looking forward to tomorrows weigh in.  I saw something on Pinterest today that said, "Your stomach shouldn't be a waste basket."  Love it!  I'm so happy that I'm finally eating healthy nutritious foods and not filling my stomach with garbage.

Laundry and Two Recipes For You!

This morning started out really well. I actually got up when my alarm went off and didn't hit snooze a dozen times.
I got up and had some yummy oatmeal with ground flaxseed and blueberries.

After breakfast we took the hubster to work and then headed to Costco.  I think I deserve some sort of award for making it through Costco with all 4 kids without losing or one of them or my mind!
We got home and I was famished so I made up a Falafal Salad with Cucumber Dressing.

Yes, that's a lot of dressing, but I'm going to show you what's in it and then you won't think it's so bad!
I've never made cucumber dressing before so I kind of just winged it, and it still turned out pretty darn good.

First, put about 1/2 cup of nonfat greek yogurt and a clove of garlic that's been put through a garlic press (or just minced really really small) in a large bowl or glass measuring cup.

Then add a handful of chopped, seeded cucumber.

Next, use a hand held blender (or if you don't have one you could do all this in a regular blender) and blend up the three ingredients.

Taste it and realize it's missing a little something and add about a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and a dash of kosher salt.  Blend it all again and taste it again.  Ah...perfect.  Now cover your Falafal Salad in your perfect Cucumber Dressing.

After lunch we headed to the gym where I did 20 minutes on the Elliptical and just wasn't feelin' it.  I don't know what the problem was (I can do an hour on that machine), but today it just work for me.  So I hopped on a bike and rode for 4.5 miles (it took about 21 minutes).

I got home and was starving.  Have I mentioned that I'm always starving after I workout.  So I had a fuji apple smeared with a tablespoon of all natural organic peanut butter.

Are you ready for some "life of a mom with 4 kids?"  After my apple and peanut butter I folded and put away all these clothes:

It's kind of hard to see in the picture, but there were at least 10 towels, 15 pairs of shorts, 20 pairs of underwear, 10 pairs of socks, 20 sets of pajamas, and 15 shirts.  If I ever go missing from the blog come look for me under a huge pile of laundry.  It never ends!

For dinner I knew I'd want something easy.  With taking the hubs to work, going to Costco and gym, and then picking him back up I had been in the car for over 2 hours today.  Way too much!
So, I grabbed some left over brown rice from the fridge and pulled apart a rotisserie chicken we got at Costco and stirred it all together.  Then I cooked up some fantastic summer veggies and tossed them in a dijon mustard vinaigrette.  Here's my dinner plate...

Here's how you make the yummy veggies and vinaigrette.
First take whatever summer veggies you have on hand and scrub them til they're nice and clean.  I just happened to have some zucchini, squash, red bell peppers.

Then cut it all up!  Cut the ends off the zucchini and squash and then cut them in half long ways.  Then start cutting them into half inch half moons.  Like so...

Then cut up your bell pepper into nice big chunks.

Throw all of that into a big bowl and drizzle with olive oil and add a pinch of kosher salt and some pepper.  Then toss those yummy veggies!

Once they're coated with the olive oil then lay them out on a foil lined baking sheet and bake at 325 degrees for 20 minutes, stirring after 10 minutes.  After 20 minutes turn your oven to broil and move the veggies under the broiler for another 10 minutes until they're browned a little.

While your veggies are cooking prepare your marinade.  Grab the following 3 ingredients:  one lemon, dijon mustard, and olive oil.

Use the juice of the lemon, a tablespoon of mustard and about 2 teaspoons of olive oil.  Whisk in a bowl.  Taste it and realize it needs something more and add a teaspoon of honey.  Ah...perfect : )

When your veggies are done cooking take them out of the oven and they should look like this:

Put them in a big bowl and drizzle with the vinaigrette.  Enjoy the yumminess!

I don't usually make up recipes on the fly, but I was pretty pleased with how both of my fly recipes turned out today.  Oh, it's 10pm and I've had 96 ounces of water.  I'll probably have at least another 8 before bed.
Today was a great day.  (I'm refusing to acknowledge the laundry!)