busy...busy...busy 1/26/11

Well, we have had: lots of smoothies, some good meals and a sick baby! (mostly teething with a fever) :(  Also, no bike rides these past couple days.  The weather does seem to be warming up, so if Ada starts to get better I am headed out the door! :)

I have had a few more friends jump on the bandwagon!! I am very excited to be promoting such healthy habits!  I have seen some new smoothies and have even passed on Kaysie's granola recipe!!

I did have a break in my smoothie routine! :( We ran out of frozen fruit, so I did not have a smoothie this morning.  However, Lowell went to the store, we were out of milk too, and I am ready to go for tomorrow! (never out of greens I might add!)

I have discovered a new love of spicy kielbasa sausage and baked beans!! The sweetness of the beans mixed with the spiciness of the sausage is awesome!!  I also achieved a replica of a dish I saw made at the castle (yes, castle) I worked at in high school.  The dish is a teriyaki chicken with grilled pineapple and swiss cheese!! Lowell really liked it! I used my cast-iron grill pan and cooked it indoors! Step-by-step photos below: (also of the castle)

 chicken in a gluten-free teriyaki marinade - - tammy/kaysie it's what you guys had...

 i warmed up the grill pan in the oven and then put it on the stove...

 chicken almost done...

 grilling some fresh pineapple!

all done!! melted the cheese in the oven!

This is the castle I worked at all through high school!! It's a Tudor-style English castle.  It was built by the founder of Colorado Springs, General Palmer, for his wife.  It is absolutely amazing and the headquarters of The Navigators, the organization my father works for.  If you're curious about either, you may google them! :) Also, if you ever want a personal tour, I know (almost) all the ins and outs of the castle! It's a pretty amazing place and kept up well by all the dedicated volunteers.  It's a secret of Colorado Springs.  Not many who live there know it's even there!! If you ever visit it's a must-see!

I am still enjoying this health journey.  What I am most proud of is the maintenance of my weight! Still going strong under 130 lbs!  I have a few more photos to post.  Once February hits, there will be many step-by-step photos of my salad creations! (i may start early, getting antsy!) Here's to health! Cheers!

 Here is a picture of the spicy sausage and beans!! (not sure if this looks appetizing...but trust me it is!!) 

 Okay...seriously two seconds before, she was crying and miserable.....

 but we turn on the camera....

 and...

 she is ready to perform!!

 Here she is signing "berries." It's a new one we're trying...THANKS PATTY!

Still loving that smoothie!!

continuing on...1/19/11

Today (1/18/10) found me waking up at 0530 ready to go back to work! (NOT!) But I did manage to crawl out of bed, make a smoothie and rub a pork roast with my homemade jerk seasoning!  I am very excited to eat it tonight!! I am just serving it over brown rice.  I will post pics of our meal tomorrow!

This weekend I took step-by-step pics of my smoothie process!

Here they are:

 Smoothie: step 1: lemon wedge, water, flax seed oil, agave syrup!

 blending step 1!

 Smoothie: step 2: frozen greens! (they last longer)

 blending step 2!

 Smoothie: step 3: strawberries and blue berries added...blended!

 another happy family of smoothies!!

 Ada was waiting for hers! (this was Saturday morning)

 drinking...drinking...drinking...

 "Think I'll sit down for this one..." (hasn't stopped drinking)

 "Think I'll walk over here..." (still drinking!!)

 greens from bountiful basket ready to be prepped!

 being "green" and re-using my "greens" bags!!

 freezer full of greens! :)

Well, apparently there are no photos from the jerk pork roast! :( (surprise, surprise!)  Tonight (Wednesday) we had BBQ chicken; grilled by yours truly!  Along with that came grilled asparagus and a fruit salad put together by Lowell! 

Still continuing with my smoothie habit! :) My two friends at work are also keeping up with daily consumption! I have had two different tid bits of information: 1) "Freezing the greens really helps the smoothie blend better. (especially if you don't have an amazing blend tec or bosch)" 2) Adding plain brewed lipton tea adds another unique (and enjoyable) flavor that also helps smoothness!"(as well as giving that caffeine boost some may need)  So exciting to see others taking risks and making this their own!  Plus it's just fun to have others with you on any journey!!  Here are a few photos of tonight:

 Tonight's dinner: BBQ Chicken (used Phil's BBQ Sauce hand delivered from Cali!), fruit salad and  grilled asparagus!

 Ada thoroughly enjoying some pineapple from our bountiful basket!

 She may have a weird face, but she really liked the chicken too!

 Some butternut and acorn squash I steamed for Ada!

  I just HAD to add this!  Ada has taken to "reading" to herself!  She will open the book, "read", turn the pages, and IF she knows the picture say what it is! I've also seen her sign pictures she knows while "reading" to herself.  I wanted to catch her not looking, but I think she has a 6th sense about the camera!!

I am feeling like I want to start on the next month's step, but I know I can pace myself! I am thinking that if we do a veggie and a meat, I want to completely cut-out carbs and insert (always) a fruit or garden salad!  Tonight I ate a bunch, even some of Lowell's chicken, and I didn't feel heavy/full like I do when will have some sort of carbohydrate with dinner.  Here's to Health! Cheers!

OKAY, OKAY!! 1/17/11

I am amazed at how many people are following my little thing!! I have all the last 6 days events (wow has it been that long?!?) in my head, so here they go for you!  My flaw, however, is that I remember I want to take pictures when I start my tasks (smoothie, meal prep), but then I find myself with a finished product and no photos!! :(  I think I may be into self-hypnosis!

I am going to try to do better!!

I have stuck to my daily smoothie consumption!! YAY!! However, last Friday, I made a little less sweet, and a little more green (on accident) but I still enjoyed it! (proud Kaysie?!?)  Lowell however requested I make them a bit sweeter next time! (tee hee)  Ada is still loving her smoothies!  I have also been adding a small (and I mean SMALL) amount of liquid Vit D to hers!

Dinner Menu for the last couple days:

Wednesday: Lowell had come home with some Alaskan Cod from Sprouts so I made baked Alaskan Cod, encrusted with parmesan cheese! It was pretty good.  A little dry because I get scared that the fish isn't all the way cooked.  But it still tasted good! We also had salad!

Thursday: Busy with tutoring and a bike ride and Lowell taking a nap and having to be  at signing practice, I ate a loaded baked potato - - green onion, cheese, sour cream, salt and butter!!

Friday: Cooked up some spicy Kielbasa and baked beans (for Lowell) in my new dutch oven.  The sweetness of the baked beans with the spiciness of the sausage was quite the combo! I loved it!

Saturday: Was date night!! We ate at Streets of NY Pizza (had a gift card from some parents): Lowell had a sub sandwich (on wheat) and I had a less healthy Garlic-Chicken Alfredo pizza.  I did enjoy some green tea with lemon for my drink.

Sunday: Tri-tip steak and grilled asparagus from my bountiful basket!!  DE-LI-CIOUS!!

Even though I have not been eating crazy healthy like I have the first couple weeks, I have maintained my reduced weight! I am remaining around 126-127 lbs! I have decided that will be my gauge for how things are.  130 lbs is my ideal weight, I believe. So to remain around that is a good measure that things are working!  Bike rides certainly help my energy level in the evening.

My new goal: TAKE PICTURES!!! I will do much better.  I am glad I have stuck with this...I guess I still have to post 21 times in a row for it to stick! (??)

Thanks for being supportive and following me and keeping me motivated!  We are just two weeks away from Step 2!!

PS- Lowell is into making the granola!! He made an amazing batch on Friday.  Ada loves it!! Unfortunately she loves it a little too much! She throws fits when we don't give her all she wants.  We have had to resort to time-out in the pack-n-play when she won't stop crying! :( However (!!) time-out is working! :)

I did take a few photos.  Here they are:

 Parmesan-Encrusted Baked Alaskan Cod (say that three times fast!!)

 Red-wine Vinaigrette dressing I made!

 I also made some cornbread!! 

 Good salad!

 Here's the fish! (it does look a little dry....) It did taste good!

Grilled Tri-tip and asparagus!! So yummy!!

More pics (hopefully) to come!! Here's to Health! Cheers!

Days 8 & 9: 1/10-1/11/11

Well Monday was quite busy as I tutor until 4:30 and then have BSF.  So, no bike ride! :( But I did end up making a pretty good dinner with the sausage I had sealed up!  I had totally forgotten it was spicy! :p  I cooked the sausage and cut it up into some wild rice.  We ate that with salads.  The salads had carrot curls, green pepper, tomatoes and mine had some shredded cheddar cheese.  I made a dill dressing from the blend tec book that was amazing!

Tuesday was Day 2 for smoothies this week! Ada is certainly loving them! She used to be the 'queen of milk' but now I think she is the 'queen of smoothies!'  SHe loves them!  Lowell made some amazing granola last night! (Kaysie's recipe!) He has been mixing it with yogurt for himself and Ada! Tonight's evening consisted of a bike ride (yay! w/the dog!) and a healthy dinner.  (but not completely on purpose!) I realized halfway into my planning I didn't have any milk, so we just had a repeat of last night's salads w/ dill dressing and some seasoned chicken breasts. Ada enjoyed some salad and lots of chicken!

It seems that now with tutoring I am much more busy. There may not be posts every day and I keep forgetting to take pictures when I am cooking!!

  I have decided to split my bountiful basket with a friend at work who has also joined me on the smoothie bandwagon! :) A second excitement is that I was able to give my old blender to another friend at work who is ALSO starting green smoothies!! :) So exciting!!

I HAVE to say  HUGE THANK YOU!!! to my mother-in-law Tammy!! She was the one who basically started all this a couple years ago when she downloaded this book!  She went on to get us all Blend Tecs and the rest, as they say, is history!  I have done my best to pass on this valuable information she has given me!! THANKS TAMMY!!

I want to say another BIG THANKS!! to my own mother who, my entire life, worked to keep us kids healthy! I owe the fact that I am not overweight...and never was...to her!!  She has really encouraged me through this walk I call my life!! LOVE YOU MOM!!

I feel SO blessed to have such amazing women in my life who have been such a help and encouragement to me.  I hope that I can pass this on to my own daughter!! Alright enough with the tears! :p  One photo for today:

One happy family!! Here's to Health! Cheers!

weekend: 1/8-1/9

This was the weekend of preparation!  I have portion greens and meat to be ready for the week.  This week  I bought my greens at Fry's but I am planning on getting my greens from Bountiful Baskets and Sprouts in the future.  Here are some photos of my greens:

 washed and ready to go...

 fresh spinach!

 in order from bottom to top: romaine, kale, red leaf lettuce collards!

bagged and ready for the freezer!

I spent the weekend cleaning out things around the house.  I have been throwing away things I haven't used in a year and donating clothes I haven't worn in a year.  It has felt very freeing to make space in our little area.  Upon cleaning out the closet near the kitchen, I remembered my mother-in-law, Tammy, had given me her classic food saver...Saturday night we had dinner and she gave me some bags for it.  We bought some sausage and chicken for the week and I vacuum-sealed it all for the freezer in portions for our little family! Here are some photos:

 chicken ready to be portioned!

 chicken sealed!

 the classic sealer!

sausage sealed!

Another victory I had this weekend was figuring out that I could bring Maggie, our dog, on the bike rides.  I had been wanting to try it, so Friday night I decided to put my problem-solving skills to work! Here are the results:

 Here is in front of our house...Maggie in the back and Ada in the front of the carriage...lots of reflecting material for safety!!

A close-up of Maggie in the back....I think she really enjoyed it!

All in all a productive weekend! Excited to see what this week will bring.  Here's to Health! Cheers!

Day 7: 1/7/11

I made it through a week!! Feeling great about the smoothie thing and my weight is remaining right around (and a little under) 130 lbs!  We also had salad every night this week! I have purchased my next set of greens and I have added kale.  Tomorrow I am going to portion and freeze the greens in preparation for the next week! I love getting ahead!

Ada, today, drank almost nothing but smoothie! I made a little extra for her and Lowell said that's all she wanted! She finally took a little milk when I came home.  She is also a huge fan of the granola! She threw a fit twice today when I wouldn't give her anymore.  It's homemade but it does have honey and brown sugar and she gets enough of that (sugar) with all the fruit she eats! (she's a huge fan of raspberries and blackberries)  (PS- i checked on the honey - - it's okay after 12 mo) I am creating a wonderfully healthy child!! So excited!

Tonight for dinner I cooked a fryer chicken.  I found a glaze from Gordon Ramsay (my fav) and also made salad (with my italian dressing) and garlic-parmesan red potato wedges! Lowell said it was restaurant quality!  Of course he did put ketchup on his potatoes....don't think Gordon would approve! :p

 preparing the meal!

 my starting line-up! (these plus lemon juice made up the glaze)

 seasoned with sea salt (from the himalayas) and black pepper and cooked the 1st 20 min...

 glazed and cooked to perfection!

 ready to be carved! - - i seriously need an electric carver!

my plate! yum!  - - salad was already at the table!

All in all a satisfying week and I am really proud that I kept up with the smoothie thing, healthy dinners and maintaining my weight -- all the while eating school lunch every day! (plus the bike rides) Thanks for all of you who are encouraging (and joining) me in this!! I am truly enjoying it! Here's to health! Cheers!