What's for Supper?

It's that time again!

If you wondering why I shop for only 5 days at a time it is because I buy mostly fresh produce and then cook the meals first that use the veggies that will spoil more quickly.

Rice Fried Vegetables

This is a VERY healthy fried rice that is PACKED, and I mean PACKED with lots and lots of veggies. This meal is only 292 calories per serving. But it will make a PLATE FULL of yummy veggies with rice. Using sesame oil just makes the taste so much better. When cooking asian foods I used to just use my olive oil. Tried the sesame ONCE and I was HOOKED! Eggs, green onions, broccoli, green beans, carrots, garlic, kale, brownrice, soy sauce, and peas pack this with LOADS of nutrition! You can top the finished result with a little more soy sauce and cashews or almonds. YUM-O! I can't wait to eat this!

French Potage with Pistou

I have a list of soups that are used as cures/remedies to the colds of winter in different parts of the world. I plan to make one a week until Spring. Soups is my favorite food! My book says that they use soups like this one in hospitals in france as a starter to every meal. This soup is topped with a pistou (pesto sauce). A potage is a blended veggie soup. This soup serves 8 with my recipe and the calorie count is 199 a bowl! Of course you must serve this with a good slice of homemade wheat bread. YUMMY! Herbs are something that people think of in bottles and capsules. But I love using the tried and true in soups. This one has thyme and basil to dress up the leeks, garlic, potatoes, carrots, and broth. I think I will make a healthy dessert this night with the low calorie count.

Veggie Burgers with Cheese and light Lay's chips

YES, this is a cheat meal at 355 calories.

We have lots of breakfast odds and ends so we will have a breakfast night of our own choosing one night.

Barley Risotto with Spinach and Tofu

Instead of rice this recipe uses Barley. I had to try it and I had almost a whole box of barley in my cabinet. This is 373 calories a serving. The Barley is slowly infused with the broth over a period of time just like normal. This risotto has shallots, white wine, sun-dried tomatoes, baby spinach, baked tofu, and parmesan cheese. After you plate it top it with fresh chives and a small slice of homemade bread! Just like soups, I love a good risotto. I had to try this one.

If Eli finishes his book by Friday we will have pizza hut pizza. I may just get the pizzas and then fix something light with leftovers in the fridge for Matthew and I. Pizza is still something that makes me feel bad at just the thought of eating. All that cheese is not good! Add in that greasy dough...YIKES!

WEEK 11!!!! At this for almost 3 months now!

Yes, my sweet bloggy pals, it is time for the weigh in.

Week 11! Can you believe that? I knew I would get to this point when I started. Staying with something isn't hard for me. If I want to do it, I can. I did try to lose weight with just excercise for almost 3 months with NO results. But now I know why. :)

As soon as I lose the first 20 pounds I am writing up a whole "how I am doing it" post. PROMISE!

Okay! I now weigh in from 194 down to 177.2!!!!!!!!!!

That is 16.8 pounds lost! OH MY GOSH!

I was wondering where the weight was coming off as I stepped on the scale this week. I did my regular arm, thigh, bust, waist, and hips measurements. And no inch loss in those areas. Which only left me with my HIGH and LOW belly fats!

So I measured.

High Belly Fat: last week 35 - to now 34!

Low Belly Fat: last week 44.5 - to now 44!

High BF started out at 37 and Low BF at 47!!!! That is alot of fat off of the tires folks!!!

Now after I measured this morning I noticed something in the huge mirror in my bathroom. My love handles on my side and back at my waist are almost GONE! I mean it! Almost gone!

I have to lose 3.5 pounds I think to be at that 20 pound mark. I can so see that my the end of October. Which has been my mini goal for a while.

I would love to be 150 by Christmas. But I know I will be above that. But hey 160 would be fun!

Now let's talk about this week. Oh my gosh! I was craving things like a mad woman. I know I am close to my time of the month. And this happened last month the same way. It is like a mini pregnancy. I want to eat and eat and eat and eat and eat. What I did was to save about 200-300 calories two different nights for the cravings. I ate those "treats" early in the evening, as to burn off more of them. I had the smallest slice of cake with a glass of milk one night. The other night I had an ice cream bar. Ice cream bars are better. Why? Because who wants to measure out the little half or 1 cup they allow you for the calories on the panel? It looks so sad, so small, and alone in that bowl. *LAUGH* The bar is ready to go. You know what it contains. And you can ravish it like the beautiful woman you are! And I did! *laugh* I ate that ice cream bar up! I laid back and savored each bite. I let it melt and actually took the time to taste it.

That is also something that is now a habit. I am hungry for my meals. But now I take my time to chew them. To enjoy them. It is what eating should be. Food is supposed to taste good. To make you feel good all over. But I know this was gone. Yes, I thought food was good. But I would stuff it in and then forget about it. Now I am planning those meals. I put even more love into them when I eat them. I make them pretty.

I hear so many people say how nothing is good. How eating out is no longer good. But they continue to eat out and to eat the same things. This is because their body is addicted to the fleeting stuffed feeling they get. Being over full is an addiction! I realized this at about week 8-10 if I remember right.

My sporty friend Myka and I talked about this and she was like YEA, you have to have a little hunger pain before you eat. She is right!

I also have a sneeking suspicion that when you have that small naw (the hungry feeling) before a meal that you will digest that meal more throughly. Just hear me out. There is nothing else in there. I have eaten 90% of the time healthy whole foods. It doesn't have manufactured crap that is still hanging out. I am not just eating cause it is time. Or because I am emotionally at need to feel full to the brim. I just think the digestive juices are flowing better. Of course, I will research this. :)

But I really feel that my lower amount of food is being used better. I can seriously feel the nutrition absorbing into me as I eat. I have always been super aware of my body inside and out. But I had lost that art with my belly.

Now at a meal I am full. But not stuffed. There is a difference. I have eaten until the hunger has left. I eat slowly and enjoy every single bite on my plate. I don't crave for anything else. How many times have I ate a crappy heavy food that was more than half my caloric need for the day and still felt like I needed something? Even though I felt like I might throw up from the meal? So many!

So at week 11 I can say the biggest thing is that I am losing my love handles. I can see it! And I am enjoying my meals, allowing them to nourish me, and dealing with my emotions with excercise and actually letting out my fustrations.

I can't wait to fill my buggy with lots of yummy veggies today. It is again a love affair I have found again. Shopping for the pretty foods that will nourish my family.

Now let's look at some of the things I have eaten this past week. As you can tell I haven't starved. And yes, my kids eat the same things.

This is the Mozzarella and Baby Bella mushroom quesadilla with a LIGHT salad.

Now that is really a lot of food. But I know what is in this! I know how it was cooked. It doesn't have the hidden fats and that mess in it from a restuarant. And I was very mindful to make this healthy. I was happy full but not stuffed. I even had a glass of soymilk and some vanilla wafers for dessert that day.

This is the Oven-Roasted Vegetables with yum-o bread!

Here it is with all that pesto and lemon juice coating it. All ready on it's foil bundle.

But add some feta and YUM-O!

This is really alot of food! But it is food that is used well and that repair and nourishes you. It feels good going down. :)

Ta- Da!

Now all you have to do is ENJOY! The juices are YUMMY on that bread. You can even add in some chicken or tofu, whatever. I would just grill or sear it first.

And this was my cheat meal of the week!

Cashew Tofu. Made just the way a little place in my hometown makes it. But a lot better for you!

This is of course a cheat because the tofu is FRIED and the yummy white rice. You can't imagine how good this is.

Okay, that is my 11th week! As you can see I am EATING. I know you had your doubts. HA HA! I may even have a healthy dinner out tonight if Mattmos feels so inclined. :)

See you all next week!

OH! About 2 weeks ago I fit into a size 14. Started at a tight 18! The thing is this. Before at 194ish the pants wouldn't have fit over my thighs! You wouldn't believe how slim and good I looked! I almost bought them. But darnit, I don't want to stay in them long. I know I will have to buy things soon because nothing is fitting. But I will wait as long as possible. :)

Remy Art, Eli Math, and School with Little Friends

My kids seem to always have little toys that they sit besides the books they are using. And I haven't figured out why one goes with the others or why certain ones sit with a certain child at different times. They have this whole thing worked out in their little heads...and I am not invited. I do not get it. I know that I loved little tiny things when I was little. But I don't recall playing out such intricate scenes. Hmmmm.

Just look at the right of the child by the book.

And you guys know how Remy always has Monkey with him. :) Monkey was helping with art this day.

Sponge painting. This was something Remy really liked. We cut out the sponge into the shape we needed. I gave him a plate full of colors.

All done!

He made this duck and added glitter to the water and rain drops. He colored the ducks head green so he was a male mallard duck.

Remy started on the last set of readers for his kinder year. This is a reading fool you guys!

Elijah is moving right along in his math book. :)

Daddy is off tomorrow! YAY! So we will have one of our weekend days again. We can't wait. I am thinking of that cheat meal of cashew tofu like crazy! :)

And I will not let it out yet, but the scale was very good to me this morning! I can't wait to weigh in on Saturday. I mean the scale was AWESOME! I want to tell so bad, but I am not recording but on the same day of the week each week. Only 3 more days for you guys to learn what I weigh!

Fair Time!!!

As if you guys can't see that I am behind on blogging due to how much I have posted in 2 days now. I have 2 more days to blog and then maybe today. Ya know, if there is anything worth blogging about. :)

Okay, the fair.

The first thing the boys wanted to do was ride this.

Now Remy has never gone down on his own. The lady running this thing just sat at the end. Usually they have another person up top to help. Elijah just decides to LEAVE his brother freaked out at the top as he happily slides down.

Now here is Remy all alone. But of course my little Indy/Irwin finds the wild courage within and down he goes. It wasn't as smooth a ride as it was for Eli. I was the screaming idiot in the background. I though he would die! Really! One year Eli went extremely air born and almost went over the side. It was a different slide than this one though. Whew!

Look at this SWEET boy. I swear he is delicious!

The kids and I had some MAJOR treats. Funnel cake and cotton candy. YUM YUM!

And how big can one ear of corn be? Huge when next to my ittiest bittiest boys face! He couldn't eat but a few bites. *laugh*

It was a fun time. The boys rode a few other things. But the fair just wasn't as good as it was just a few short years ago. And I am sure that having been to Disney this past Spring had nothing to do with it! *laugh* We are so ready to go back there! LOVE that place!

Homeschool Play Date

Friday morning and lunch time we met up with some new homeschooling friends. We just talked and the kids played. Everyone there had a little girl. I mean a little toddler daughter that just got my heart! Man I want a daughter. *sigh*

The ladies and their children were of course wonderful and I think we will get together again. :) We were all wanting just a relaxed time for our kids to get together without co-ops and stuff. And outside of the local HUGE homeschool group. But that huge group is a wonderful resource, but I am one of those gals who needs more freedom.

The kicker, and Sherri you would love this, they both live very close to us. HA HA! Funny stuff!

Here is my Remy Gage...

Eli hiding like the little spy he is. *rolling eyes*

Eli talking with his hands as the other kids have lunch. He is just so me!

We also did some geocaching while there. Matthew found this microcache and then stood back with his smug self and "I know where it is" smile. One of my new friends found it! Before me! She had never found one before! This cache has stumped many in our area! Like hardcore cachers! She is just made for this sport. :) The cache is in between her fingers, like a button.

All the children looking at the spot it was found an saying OOOH's and AHHH's!

On the search for more caches!

It was great fun you guys! Well, minus those HUGE mosquitoes!

Weekly Menu's, I Guess I will Join in.

Several of my bloggy friends blog the weekly supper meal lists they have. I thought I would share mine. It will also shed some light on how I eat, atleast for supper while losing weight and for health. ;) I have had ladies asking. :)

Day 1:

Egg Crepes with Spinach, Tomatoes, and mozzarella

These are really yummy, easy, and quick! They also have shallots in them. They weigh in at only 238 calories a serving. Add a piece of ezekiel bread for toast and YUMMY! It is a light meal that is burned easily and doesn't stay with you or weigh you down. The biggest thing for me was to eat foods that burned up fast but were complete and healthy. Sure you are hungry more often, but being hungry for your next meal is a good thing! We have forgotten what it is like to be hungry from all the heavy fatty meals we ingest.

Day 2:

Mozzarella and Wild Mushroom Quesadillas

I replace the white flour with whole wheat tortillas. This does mean the tortilla has more calories this way, but the complete whole grain of a whole wheat tortilla has so many more pluses than the white. It is used well and it has more nutrition. Not to mention the health of your colon. You can even buy sprouted whole wheat tortillas in the freezer section, these are even better. Inside the tortilla is the mushrooms, red bell pepper, and cheese. Buying reduced cheese saves up to 50 or more calories depening on what type you buy. This meal with a light ceasar salad is 390 calories. The mushrooms and spinach burn quickly, the cheese and tortilla can get you through bed. The salad for me is like candy. I love a good ceaser salad, it is one of my favorite foods.

Day 3:

Bulgar with Leeks and Swiss Chard

I made this one last night. I have made it before and oh my gosh! Add in a small slice of artisan bread to sop up the natural gravy/juices and you can't find a better fall meal! There are also mushrooms in this meal. Mushrooms give you a meaty feel to the meal but they take more calories to burn than they contain. So eat away on those mushrooms. :) If you have never had swiss chard ask me for the recipe! It is one of my favorite ways to prepare it. This recipe takes only 30 minutes to make with only 252 calories per serving. The serving is a HUGE plate. Of course counting the calories in your bread brings it up. But with a meal of Bulgar (cracked whole wheat) and fresh greens, mushrooms, leeks, and veggie broth you know your body is going to use up the goodness quickly. So have the bread. I add about 2 TBs. of nutritional yeast to the broth to make it richer.

Day 4:

Oven-Roasted Vegetables

Okay, I love to make up packet meals. For this one you mix up asparagus, red potatoes, zucchini, grape tomatoes, onions, pesto, lemon juice, and feta. Then you seperate the mixture into their own tinfoil pouches. Close them up and cook for about half an hour. Serve with some homemade wheat bread (1 small to medium slice) and sop up the juices this one makes at the botton of the foil. Cleanup is easy, no pans to cook in. You just need a cutting board and lots of veggie chopping fun. The calories for this one is only 291. And everything is used so well. The potatoes are a bit more than the other veggies but it is only a small amount.

Day 5:

Cashew Tofu with Jasmine Rice

This is a semi cheat dinner for me. I usally made something I crave on one of Matt's days off for the week. Tofu is frozen and then breaded and yes seared in some olive oil. Cashews, boston lettuce, and green onions poured over rice with the light gravy is so good! I have yet to count the calories. I just make sure that day to burn an extra 400 or so of calories. It is easier for me in the summer with the pool. But now long walks are just delicious, and having one after a yummy cheat dinner with my family is even better. :)

If you want recipes ask. I will post photos of meals as I feel so inclined. :)

Weight Loss Update

I am now just an even 179.

Not much of a loss this week, but I have been seeing a week or so of not much loss and then BAM the next weigh in or so it is ALOT! So I am okay with it. As long as it keeps the same or goes down.

I have lost 15 pounds and now I ONLY have 29 more to go! I remember when I had 44 pounds when I began. To see that it is now down to 29 pounds to lose is just crazy. When you look at that it makes the day to day, week to week thing worth it all. Really there is no going back. I have found what works for me. It has been a hard journey to get back to a normal size. I never had to worry about weight. And then I had a huge postpartum depression that lasted for years, and a very stressful recent 2ish years. The last year was the worst. Just a word to the wise, if Heavenly Father is telling you something. I mean he just keeps on you about something and he shows you time after time why you should listen and you say well that would just make things hard on me or people will not like me or I can do it an easier but longer way, DON'T listen to yourself! Listen to him. Because what seems like an easier road without him is in fact a harder road all around. I could have just ripped off the bandaid and had it over with! It was such a hard road that my first year in my new home was under a cloud of sadness and anxiety. Letting God be God is so important. He has our best interests at heart. And HELLO, he goes before us and has it all ready for us. *sigh*

The eating of comfort foods at night and in binges were big during these times. It was just easier to stuff it all down. It really stuffed it down. I have had to deal with the emotions now that FOOD isn't an option. And let me say it is hard. I will be spending much time on my knees thanking him that everything turned out despite me being a disobedient child. Thankyou for loving me LORD!

I did have my first real cheat day on Friday. We went to the fair. Fries, Funnel Cake, and Cotton Candy. It had been so long and my body used to good fuel that I got sick towards the end. It must be what Eli feels when he is really having a high blood sugar. I thought I was going to die! And in truth only the first 2 bites were any good.

I think I lost about half an inch on my thighs again. But I will wait for next week to record that if it is still the same.

We went to Target last week and I now wear a size 14 in pants! Remember I started at a tight 18! They looked good too! I have to get a stomach shot for you guys! My tummy is flatter and my booty was very hot as Mattmos said in those jeans. :) My legs look longer now too without so much fat in the front and back sides of me. :)

Matt took some photos of me and I am starting to see ME again! I hope that is understood. I have for so long looked at photos and in mirrors and been shocked at what I see. even in the photo with my head down the double chin is almost gone! I have stressed out about looking up toward a camera to hide that double chin and now it is going away so I can have a normal photo!

Here is a photo of my face at my heaviest about 195ish. The little girl with me is a very special person, please be in prayer for her and her sister.

Now here are the ones Matt took on Friday.

Okay, that is enough about my weight loss this week. See you next week. :)

Just for YOU, LAURA! (Geocaching, what is it?)

My sweet friend Laura is always like "WHAT IS THIS YOUR DOING!" when I post about Geocaching.

So today we spent the day caching Laura! Enjoy this post. :)

You go to www.Geocaching.com and get an account. Once you have an account you can search for caches in your area and see the coordinates. The cache can be a tiny piece of paper rolled into a little container or a box full of tiny trinkets and toys.

The first cache we went on was to a local rodeo/cowboy place in our area. I looked up caches in my area and wrote down the coordinates. The man called this one "Cowboy's need cache too" because he said his son had worked at a local restuarant and the cowboys NEVER tipped well. Hee hee. The clue was in the title as it often is. the cache meant cash, hence the tips his son never had. :)

You put the numbers into the GPS system, these are bogus numbers of course.

And then you click GO!

And drive to the point of destination. The GPS can get you RIGHT on the cache or very close to it. It just depends.

Here is a photo of the place it was at.

It was hidden in the light post near an ATM, cowboys need cache you know! LOL!

The box was a magnetic key holder with a little paper inside. You take it out and sign it. These are called micro caches.

After signing you put it all back the way you found it and log it on the site as found and when you found it.

Then it was on to cache #2 of the day.

My GPS has a little checkered flag to mark the spot, sort of like the traditional X the pirates would use. *LAUGH* I am too corny, I know.

This one was called BarFoot Twins. The road we found it on was Barfoot Road. When I saw the trees I knew we had found our twins. ;)

Then you search! The boys were into the many rocks (crystals) all over and the mating love bugs on the golden rod so I found this one. ;) Let those boys enjoy a new place. :)

I found it! Sometimes they are hidden under leaf clutter or sticks. This one was a lock box with treats inside.

Of course when you find the treasure the boys come running to look inside after my hard work. *wink*

This is what it looks like when you open the box.

I put these in...

And since this wasn't a good cache for the kids, meaning no treats they liked, I did take the highlighter. I needed a pink one for Eli's blood sugar charts anyway.

Sign and date the log.

Put it all back together and put it the way you found it.

Be sure to take cute photos of your kids!

This last one is called Reflections.

Can you tell why? Well, cause there is a little cache hidden here!

It was hidden in an old fim canister.

Here is my Mattmos putting it back the way it was after I signed the log. The kids and I stayed in the car because it was a quick park and cache. And the massive mosquitoes were out and swarming in this area. My hubby enjoys the neat ones like this anyway. Let him have it. :)

Okay Mrs. Laura, now you know about Geocaching! I bet your hubby would love it and he drives all over so he could get them all the time!