A Renaissance Woman

#WordlessWednesday - National Pancake Day

2012-02-29T13:41:00.003-06:00

For more WW participants head to:

Pardon The Dust - I'm Remodeling

2012-02-27T23:41:00.002-06:00

My blog is going to go through a major overhaul. You might not notice very much as a reader but as an owner it's going to be a complete makeover. It's time. In September 2012 this will have been my fifth year of blogging. When I hit publish today this will be post number 2,541. That's nearly 7 years of posts in less than 5 years. Apparently I have had a lot to write about. Special thanks to Matthew Johnson for tweaking my header. He and I go all the way back to Happy Panda days.

I may end up deleting a lot of posts. It's going to take some time to read what I have posted in order to make it better organized but stay tuned. I've got some really fun ideas coming your way. Thank you for all the support!

I started out here in 5/2007-

and then here 9/2007

and here

In August of 2009 I moved over here to A Renaissance Woman and lost a lot of contacts and followers. It happens some times when you make name changes to your blog.

It's a great shot of me hiding behind my kids. Now, I'm over hiding since I've been working out and eating better. Nearly three years later I have a very different look.

Here I go on another adventure! I'm going to be hitting the big 4-0 this year. It's hard not to look back on the last 40 years and think ok this is what I have with my life so far, now what do I want to do with the rest of it? Sounds like an invitation for a bucket list don't you think? I'm focusing on career at the moment. I'm very happy with my skill set. Now I just need to get more clients to pay me for what I already enjoy doing, social media. Wish me luck. I'm going in!

#Mamavation Monday - It's Official

2012-02-27T18:29:00.001-06:00

It's official. This is my third year as a supportive member of the members of Mamavation. It's been helpful to have the encouragement and support. Everything is crazy right now. Too much to do and too little time to get it all done. This week I'm short and sweet. Good luck ladies maybe I'll have more to say next week. I'm just still trying to recover.

Still working on: Operation: Humpty Dumpty

Eating out:

888 Bistro

My Work Outs this past week-

2/20 Monday - Crossfit Super modified work out

2/21 Tuesday - Injured

2/22 Wednesday - Crossfit Super modified work out

2/23 Thursday - Injured

2/24 Friday -Crossfit Super modified work out

2/25 Saturday - Injured

2/26 Sunday -Injured

Scale Reading - 1 pound loss. I can't complain since I'm still battling the 160's! I'll take it.

Stress Level -HIGH - Over the inability to go out and play.

The UP side-The doctor has been treating me with acupuncture. It's working! What? What? Super happy.

I'm changing up my video series this year. I'm going to try and provide you with exercises that will help your body while you are working out with your regularly scheduled work outs.

Injury prevention is important!

Be a good role model.

Need for fitness support? Join the "Sistahood". More great resources: The Y, Crossfit Training, Vitamins for your age group, RealAge.com

The long term goal 37 pounds by the end of the year.
The short term goal lose 3 lbs. per month.

January 172 - 160 = 12 pound loss
February 165 - 161 = 4 pound loss
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

Click on those "Like" and "Retweet" buttons to share with the online community. For current events see the side bars and click on the "Add Me" tab above to connect with me using other social media services.

Freebie Friday - Link Up #contests and prizes every Friday

2012-02-23T22:49:00.004-06:00

Are you hosting a #contest? Great! Post it here on Freebie Friday. What better time to search and enter contests than on the weekend? Sign in so that others can find your giveaway. I will be hosting Freebie Friday each week from now on so be sure to drop back by. Now go grab your tasty beverage, sit back and relax and contest hop with me! Don't forget to check out these hosted contest links too.

Click on those "Like" and "Retweet" buttons to share with the online community. For current events see the side bars and click on the "Add Me" tab above to connect with me using other social media services.

#WordlessWednesday - Mommy Inc.

2012-02-21T18:28:00.002-06:00

It's true, I've upgraded. Now I can run our household more efficiently, yeah that's it. lol

For more WW participants head to:

Click on those "Like" and "Retweet" buttons to share with the online community. For current events see the side bars and click on the "Add Me" tab above to connect with me using other social media

#Mamavation Monday - Worth The Wait!

2012-02-20T18:08:00.002-06:00

My Mamavation posts normally come late in the day lately. I'm super busy just living life and being a "Super Mom" trying to get everyone to and from where they're suppose to be. Add to the day laundry, cooking, errands and oh yes get a work out in if I can! My schedule has been bombarded with treatments from the doctor and it just can't be helped right now. It's tough because I think of all the challenges at Crossfit and Mamavation that I'm missing. Also the races that I haven't or won't be able to do either. It's a bit depressing. Until you are "on the bench" it's hard to know how that feels. I'm on Day 82 and still counting the days until I can actually even begin to run again, lift weights or hit a Taebo class.

Have I mentioned that my trainer can still make me cry for my Mommy working around this injury? He can and he does. In the meantime I'm becoming a recipe hunter as you might have noticed from my previous posts. My energy is now in the kitchen with a mission to find recipes I like and put the healthiest spin possible on them. That is the goal.

Even though I have been in the gym my trainer hasn't caught me on camera since November of last year. Today he caught me doing ring rows. You pull yourself up and then you descend slowly with a 4 second count. It's all upper body and the strength it takes is ridiculous. If nothing else I'm working on the gun show! Pow, Pow.

There was some positive feed back about this photo so I wanted to hunt down one from a year ago around the same time and this is what I found....

This photo was taken February 17, 2011

Below is the one taken today! February 20, 2012

See a difference?

Maybe I'll try and dig up some photos from even earlier if I can. They are rare! I don't normally get caught in a photo with the exception of my trainer being the sneaky camera guy.

I'm not going to lie though, I don't hate it! Without him it would be very hard to see our progress. The cool thing is he can see it even when we don't but the camera, it doesn't lie. It shows the real you at that very moment. I have a few race photos and that would be interesting to compare those as well. My challenge for you...dig up your photos and see how you compare to yourself. Are you amazed?

Still working on: Operation: Humpty Dumpty

Eating out:

888 Bistro

My Work Outs this past week-

2/13 Monday - Injured

2/14 Tuesday - Crossfit Super modified work out

2/15 Wednesday - Injured

2/16 Thursday - Crossfit Super modified work out

2/17 Friday - Injured

2/18 Saturday - Injured

2/19 Sunday -Injured

Scale Reading - 2 pound loss. I can't complain since I'm battling the 160's! I'll take it.

Stress Level -HIGH - Husband is out of town again. Ugh!

The UP side-The doctor says maybe only 3-5 more treatments of traction. I'm soooooo close! I'm switching up my gym routine from two days to three! Get up that ladder girl.

I'm changing up my video series this year. I'm going to try and provide you with exercises that will help your body while you are working out with your regularly scheduled work outs.

Injury prevention is important!

Be a good role model.

Need for fitness support? Join the "Sistahood". More great resources: The Y, Crossfit Training, Vitamins for your age group, RealAge.com

The long term goal 37 pounds by the end of the year.
The short term goal lose 3 lbs. per month.

January 172 - 160 = 12 pound loss
February 165 -
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

5 Fingers of Thanks

2012-02-19T21:40:00.002-06:00

I need to come up with something for the week. I'm having an off day. I was in my bed looking at my book shelf and you can clearly see all the topics that I like. I can't remember the last time I finished a book. One of the books is a study guide for the GRE. I'm baffled that I took it and passed and went on to earn a Masters degree and here I sit not doing anything near what I thought I would be. Some days it's hard to wrap my brain around but these are all my choices.

1.) Thankful that I'm finally getting able to get more of a warm up and work out in. I'm not at full capacity but I really want to be.

2.) Thankful my husband has landed safely again for his 2nd trip this month.

3.) Thankful to have discovered that my little girl ordered something from my phone and I caught it in time to cancel it. She sure has that random touch!

4.) Thankful for my church family.

5.) Thankful to have some new goals in spite of my injury.

Lemon Blueberry Pancakes - It's What's For Breakfast

2012-02-18T22:11:00.002-06:00

This morning I have helpers! Look they set up our ingredients for a photo op. How cool are they? The Pioneer Woman is going to serve us up something good that we have never tried before. I don't have any healthy options for this recipe. I only cook pancakes or waffles on Saturday mornings so it's a real treat for my peeps.

This is how children learn to love cooking and boy do we do math and reading.

I'm super excited because I'm one of those people that have been eating pancakes the same way their entire lives! I'm open to trying new things.

Hey! "No sleeping on the job sister!"

Whoa! These were soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo yummy. I'm happy we got to take them for a test drive. Now I'm not a fan of the blueberries but my family loved it. I really did like the lemon flavoring though. Check out this calorie count....

Ingredients

1-½ cup Cake Flour (800 calories)
~~1 Tablespoon~~ ~~(additional) Cake Flour~~ (I never figured out where this one went?)
¼ teaspoons Salt
1 Tablespoon (heaping) Baking Powder
3 Tablespoons Sugar (Organic Pure Cane Sugar 135 calories)
1-½ cup Evaporated Milk (more If Needed) (300 calories)
1 whole Lemon (more If Needed) (17 calories)
1 whole Large Egg (70 calories)
1-½ teaspoon Vanilla
2 Tablespoons Butter, Melted (64 calories)
Zest From 1 Lemon
1 cup Heaping Blueberries (107 calories)
Extra Butter
Maple Or Pancake Syrup

800
135
300
17
70
64
107
1493
124.4167

I made 12 pancakes out of this recipe! Before we slather on the butter and maple syrup it's 124 calories. I'm pretty sure I will be making this again but I might try fresh blueberries rather than frozen. This is just one of those recipes that you break out right before a busy day so you can burn it right off. It's worth it! YUM.

Rather Good Chili - It's Fantastic!

2012-02-17T21:35:00.000-06:00

All that energy I have inside that wants to work out but my body can't.....yeah I'm using it in the kitchen. Pinterest is my new BFF and I'm not sure if I will ever buy another cook book again. What am I doing? Well first I was just trying recipes out and trying to figure out how close I can stay to the Paleo/Whole30/Eating Clean method of eating. It's not easy! The challenge is over but I'm a lot more aware of what I'm cooking, buying and eating. I'm constantly looking at the ingredients and the calorie count. What I'm doing is finding the recipe and following along and then I'm going to figure out how to put a healthier spin on it. That's the goal any way.

This is Rather Good Chili and it's the best I have ever tasted hands down. Hats off to Jennifer Rather at EzraPoundCake.com.

1 1/2 lbs. ground chuck (leanest ground beef possible 900 calories)
1/2 lb. ground sausage (Jimmy Dean's breakfast sausage 640 calories)
~~2 medium~~ onions, chopped (I opted for 1 large onion)
2-4 cloves of garlic, minced (I like garlic, 4)
1/3 cup chili powder
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (72 calories)
1 tablespoon oregano
1 tablespoon sugar (45 calories pure cane organic sugar)
1 teaspoon salt
2 (14.5-ounce) cans diced tomatoes (Hunts 420 calories)
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed (GOYA® Black Beans 360 calories)
1 to 2 cups water

In a large pot over medium-high heat, combine beef, sausage, onions and garlic. Cook until the meat is no longer pink. Drain most of the fat. (Leave about a tablespoon so the meat doesn’t start sticking to the bottom of your pot.) - I threw mine in a crock pot!
In a small bowl, combine the chili powder, flour, oregano, sugar and salt. Add to meat mixture, and stir. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.
Add tomatoes and beans, cover, and cook for an additional 45 to 60 minutes, until the beans are soft. Stir occasionally, and add water, if you need it. Serve with your choice of crackers, Fritos, cheese, sour cream, green onions – or use it to top a hot dog. It all works!

I did end up using the water and of course I wanted mine to look just like the photo so I did top it with cheese, sour cream and dry chives! Whoa....my family and I are in love.

Now for the healthier spin on this awesome chili!

1 1/2 lbs. ground chuck (leanest ground beef possible 900 calories)
1/2 lb. ground sausage (Light pork sausage 640 calories)
~~2 medium~~ onions, chopped (I opted for 1 large onion)
2-4 cloves of garlic, minced (I like garlic, 4)
1/3 cup chili powder
~~2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (72 calories)~~
1 tablespoon oregano
~~1 tablespoon sugar (45 calories pure cane organic sugar)~~
1 teaspoon salt
6 medium tomatoes (156 calories)
1 (16-ounce) bag of black beans (omit beans and it's Paleo)
4 cups water

It's a LOT more work to make it this way! You have to rinse and boil the beans so they can sit for an hour while you prepare the meat and slice up all those tomatoes. I ended up using all the water to allow for more juice. I threw it all in the crock pot this morning and we had it for lunch.

There are a lot more beans in this recipe and you can see the color difference between using canned tomatoes and fresh tomatoes. The beans are not nearly as soft but nobody was complaining. It was just something that I noticed. Also, omitting the flour made it more like a soup, boo! If you omit the toppings it becomes Paleo, also without beans.

I did the calorie count for both recipes! Check this out.....

Each recipe made 14 cups and that's a lot of chili. The left side is the first recipe and the right side is my tweaks to make it healthier.

beef	900	900
sausage	640	360
flour	72	0
sugar	45	0
tomatos	245	156
beans	360	140
Calories	2262	1556
Divide 14	161.5714	111.1429
Toppings	140	130
	302	241	with toppings

The 140 on the left is 1 tbs of sour cream and 1/4 cup of grated mild cheddar cheese.
The 130 on the right is the same except I went with Light sour cream this time.

Even if you throw on the toppings that is one hearty meal people. There doesn't seem to be a huge calorie difference but hey you are going to feed your family for a few days on this meal. Think dinner and lunches. What a fun find and I'm happy to add it to my menu.

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Stove Top Pork Chops

2012-02-17T19:17:00.000-06:00

"A simple yet delicious recipe for a classic favorite! Makes 6 chops". At least this is what the original recipe says which can be found on Free Recipes.org. This photo on Pinterest looks so yummy! Now to take it for a test drive.

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ~~sage~~ (marjoram)
1 teaspoon black pepper
8 6 pork chops (~~bone in~~) (boneless)
2 tablespoons ~~butter~~ olive oil
1 cup water
2 beef bouillon cubes

Instructions:

In a bowl, combine seasoning (first three ingredients). Season chops by rubbing on both sides. In a large frying pan over medium high heat, ~~melt the butter~~ add olive oil and then saute the pork chops until golden brown on both sides, about five minutes each side.
In another saucepan, dissolve the bouillon cube in one cup water over high heat, stirring frequently. Pour over the pork chops, reduce heat to simmer, and cover for about forty five minutes.

I didn't have any sage handy so I had to do some research to find a substitute. Lucky for me I found this handy dandy herb substitute chart. Marjoram is what I had on hand so that's obviously what I used instead. I'm not using butter to cook with, again with the Paleo/Whole30/Eating Clean method.

After the 45 minutes was over it looked like I was basically boiling my pork chops. I cranked up the heat with the lid off to thicken up the gravy!

WOW!!!

These were so tender and yummy. I certainly want to add this to our menu however, the beef bouillon cubes need to be tweaked. My container of Tones has a list of ingredients of things I can't pronounce! I'm sure there is a healthier option I just have to do a little more research. My photo doesn't look anything like their photo, could it be the difference of NOT using butter? I don't know but it was fun taking this recipe for a spin.

Freebie Friday - Link Up #contests and prizes every Friday

2012-02-16T22:24:00.000-06:00

Potato Cakes

2012-02-16T19:08:00.000-06:00

The Loaded Mashed Potato Cakes was found on Just Putzing Around The Kitchen.com.

Ingredients:
- Instant mashed potatoes

- 2/3 cup ~~Colby Jack cheese~~, Mild Cheddar cheese grated
- 1-1/2 cups Panko breadcrumbs
- 1 large egg
- 2 tbsp chives, chopped (I used dried)

Steps:
- Make your potatoes first -
(1) In a large bowl, mix all ingredients until everything is uniformly incorporated.
(2) Using your hands, scoop out generous portions of the potato mixture, and shape it into patties.
** These can be as big as you want. My patties were about 1 inch thick and 2 inches across.
I didn't measure mine out I just went with it!

(3) Spray a large pan/skillet with Pam and set it on the stove over medium/high heat.
(4) Cook mashed potato patties 3-4 at a time, about 1-2 minutes on each side.
** If you’re using a pan/skillet with a cover, put the lid on when you’re cooking each side. This will trap the heat and cook the patties all the way around, even on the edges.
I missed the cover with a lid part.

They still turned out ok. My family didn't really care for these. They were very dry and then when I read over the recipe again for this post, I realized I completely missed step 5! DOH!!!!

(5) Serve warm, with sour cream and bacon bits.

I quickly went to grab the left overs to warm them up and try it with the sour cream and bacon bits! That's the part that was missing.

They are MUCH better when you use the proper toppings. I'm not sure that I will make these often just because I'm trying to stick with the Paleo/Whole 30/Clean Eating methods but I get sucked into Pinterest recipes. Can you blame me?

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#WordlessWednesday - Beauty & The Beast?

2012-02-15T08:01:00.000-06:00

Crockpot Barbeque

2012-02-14T18:15:00.002-06:00

The original recipe can be found on AllRecipes.com - Slow Cooker Barbeque

Ingredients:

1 (3 pound) boneless chuck roast

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp ~~onion powder~~ (minced onions)

Salt and pepper to taste

1 (18 ounce) bottle of Kraft original

Directions:

1. Place roast into slow cooker. Sprinkle with garlic powder and onion powder, and season with salt and pepper. Pour barbeque sauce over meat. Cook on Low for 6 to 8 hours.

1. ~~Remove meat from slow cooker, shred, and return to slow cooker.~~

I actually sliced and shredded it while it was still in the cooker and let it cook for 1 more hour. My son wanted this to put over baked potatoes. Which we did but there was so much left over that we made sandwiches too!

Although this is a super easy recipe the calorie count in the barbeque sauce is 1,350 calories. I would like to find a way to cut those calories down. My family really enjoyed it but I'm not ready to eat this without putting a more "Paleo" twist on it. I found this recipe here but it's pretty detailed! I'm not sure if I'm ready to make homemade ketchup and mustard. I'll find something it's just going to take a little more time to research. This meal is going to last you for a few days.

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#Mamavation Monday - That's Not Paleo!

2012-02-13T14:35:00.000-06:00

I swear Paleo was so much easier than having to navigate back into everything. There is no challenge, no support group and my family is over "Paleo." However, for all purposes it was pretty darn easy to follow. Now I'm constantly thinking about what I'm eating and how it's going to effect me. It's stressing me out to be honest with you. Once a month we do go out with friends and I could care less about what I eat or drink or counting calories. I just want to relax with my friends and have good conversation and hang out. It's really nice! The rest of my days are spent meal planning or hunting recipes. Some of the recipes I have been trying are fun and tasty but they aren't necessarily "healthy" either. I'm having to navigate my way back into healthy mode. So please! keep posting your recipes on Fridays because I did find a few I want to try.

A friend of mine asked me what I was taking away after the Paleo challenge. Obviously I'm still cooking, I'm trying like heck to stay away from the processed foods but I don't have any fears about trying recipes. I know Paleo worked for my body but it was hard to keep up. I've seen what salt and processed food has done to my body. I'm also finding out how my body responds to different breads. I'm still caffeine free for the most part. I had one small cup of coffee at church but that was it, back to my water I went.

Oh I'm up to 5 hours of sleep now! I'm really a fan of my Fitbit Ultra.

I still haven't made a full recovery and I'm over here on the side lines just gritting my teeth. I did get to walk a 5K on Saturday morning even though it was freezing. Meanwhile my friends are getting to run and do obstacle course races (my favorite!). I'm not sure if I will be able to do one again or not. It stinks to be doing so little. This Texas weather is NOT helping at all, cold and raining one day, cold and windy the next!

Still working on: Operation: Humpty Dumpty

Eating out:

888 Bistro

My Work Outs this past week-

2/6 Monday - Injured

2/7 Tuesday - Crossfit Super modified work out

2/8 Wednesday - Injured

2/9 Thursday - Crossfit Super modified work out

2/10 Friday - Injured

2/11 Saturday - Walked a 5K

2/12 Sunday -Injured

Scale Reading -1 pound loss. I'm not happy about it but it all goes back to eating.

Stress Level -HIGH - Husband is out of town again this week and he will come back and leave again next week.

The UP side- I have the support of some really awesome people. Thank you.

I'm changing up my video series this year. I'm going to try and provide you with exercises that will help your body while you are working out with your regularly scheduled work outs.

Stretching is important!

Be a good role model.

Need for fitness support? Join the "Sistahood". More great resources: The Y, Crossfit Training, Vitamins for your age group, RealAge.com

The long term goal 37 pounds by the end of the year.
The short term goal lose 3 lbs. per month.

January 172 - 160 = 12 pound loss
February 165 -
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

5 Fingers of Thanks

2012-02-12T22:20:00.000-06:00

1.) Thankful for another awesome Parent's Night Out. Why was I the only female playing air hockey?

2.) Thankful for all the new yummy recipes that I'm finding on Pinterest.

3.) Thankful that I got to get out Saturday morning to walk a 5K Fun Run.

4.) Thankful that Valentine's Day is almost over. So much preparation for all these parties!

5.) Thankful that even though my body isn't 100% I'm still on my way back.

Yummies for The Kiddos

2012-02-12T22:13:00.000-06:00

Amazing how much of these ingredients are already back in the house! My husband couldn't wait to restore the balance of the cheese in our home. These are Pepperoni Pizza Puffs. Click on the hyperlink for the original recipe but I'm going to list what I used because there are modifications.

3/4 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
pinch of salt
a few shakes of red pepper flakes
3/4 cup 2% milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup pepperoni
1/2 cup homemade sauce (1 can tomato sauce & 1 small can of tomato paste, season to taste with garlic salt and Italian seasoning)

It's easy enough that the little people can help out too!

We didn't have cubed pepperoni so I just cut the slices into quarters. They worked fine.

We used the mini muffin pan so there were 24 of these little puffs. The kids LOVED these.

Very simple to make and what a cool after school snack.

He says it's 3 thumbs up but obviously he is lacking a third thumb so he's using his head! lol

Next up! Cinnamon muffins.

I always opt to use apple sauce instead of the oil. I believe that is the only alteration I made to this recipe.

He was having so much fun dipping the muffins in the butter and cinnamon for the topping.

We tried dipping it all over and I don't recommend it. I would just stick to dipping the tops and calling it good. It's really enough sugar and it can get really messy. But hey if your into sticky then just go for it!

Finally we made some Valentine's Day treats! A spin on the pretzels. We did not use the candies in the recipe but opted for the white chocolate.

We had an assembly line.

The kids had a GREAT time making these. They loved to eat them and share with their friends. What an easy idea. There you have it! Three easy peasy recipes to add to your menu.

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What Stuck from Paleo? Being in the kitchen!

2012-02-11T21:38:00.000-06:00

I'm fearless now when it comes to trying new recipes. They can either go horribly wrong or get added to my menu. Pinterest has been so helpful to me. I can organize my boards and do some serious meal planning! I'm a little back logged here so I'm just going to jump in!

This is a "Detox Smoothie"Click on the link for the full recipe.

I wasn't feeling great and this was suppose to make me feel like a whole new person! I was ready, ready to feel good. Honestly, nothing really happened. It didn't taste bad but nothing noticeable happened to me either. Just coming off of Paleo I'm pretty sure I could have done without all the sugar in the pineapple juice.

Take 2 on the Paleo waffles!

1 cup almond meal
1 cup whey or protein powder
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup coconut flour
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract (you may want to add this to taste)
1/2 tsp baking soda

Mix all the ingredients together and pour about 1/3 cup batter into the waffle maker. Heat until no more steam comes from the waffle maker. - Recipe by Tracie DeVault

I must admit these were much tastier than the previous batch I made. I still couldn't get my peeps to eat them. It's all still a work in progress.

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Freebie Friday - Link Up #contests and prizes every Friday

2012-02-10T00:00:00.000-06:00

Monkey Business!

2012-02-09T16:36:00.000-06:00

It started out with a birthday party! What do you get for a good friend's birthday who happens to be a man? You gift him with a sweet treat of course. Monkey Bread it is and I can not take any credit for the recipe because it's from The Pioneer Woman.

Now how do I keep my little people out of that Monkey Bread? I just knew they would be asking him every five minutes if they could have some. Pillsbury now sells their biscuits in a four pack in order to promote their own version of Monkey Bread.

I tried it once but I like Rea's better. Also with her recipe it asks for 3 cans of biscuits not 4. What do you do with the extra can of biscuits and hold off the children from devouring the birthday gift? Monkey Muffins of course! These didn't last more than 10 minutes. The kids went crazy for these treats. They didn't bother the guest of honor one bit! Whoo Hoo score one for Mom!!!

Click on those "Like" and "Retweet" buttons to share with the online community. For current events see the side bars and click on the "Add Me" tab above to connect with me using other social media services.

#WordlessWednesday - Caption This!

2012-02-07T20:22:00.000-06:00

I just don't have any words for this photo! lol

English McMuffin

2012-02-07T20:04:00.000-06:00

I'm not really sure what you would call them but it does remind me of the Egg McMuffin from McDonalds but it's not. This is another quick breakfast that is great to whip up before school. I found it on the back package of the Target brand of English Muffins.

Ingredients:
English Muffins
Eggs
Sliced Cheese
Bacon

We own a George Foreman Grill so making bacon is super easy! I now only use Nitrate free bacon, it's one of those foods that stuck with me from the Paleo challenge. No matter how you prepare your bacon it's best to put that on first.

Next slice your English Muffin in half and put it in the toaster. Then take your egg and cook it. I will break the yolk and let it cook and then flip it. You can cook your egg any way you want though. By now your toaster has popped! Put your egg on the half of the English Muffin, slap a slice of cheese on and let it melt, then add your bacon. That's it!

It's Kid Approved!

Tip: My son says it's too heavy of a breakfast for him. He's not use to all that bread so I will skip the top slice of the English Muffin so it's not too heavy. I'm pretty sure you could also substitute that bacon for a sausage patty too! Mix it up and have fun.

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#Mamavation Monday - Wait up wagon!

2012-02-06T18:48:00.002-06:00

I have got to get back on the wagon. It was very easy to say I'll just have a cheat day and then I'll get back to the business of eating clean. It's easier said than done. After that cheat day came the wedding day and you just have to have a piece of cake! Sure I could have made better choices from the buffet. I could have opted NOT to get the crackers and cheese but I didn't and it was good. I'm not gonna lie. That cake, it was the bomb!
My son had to bring game snacks and he chose Cheetos and of course there were a few small bags left over and I just happen to find myself saying "it's just a small bag!" Funny thing is I got a sore inside my mouth afterward. I was telling my son about it and then he showed me that he too had one. Guess Cheetos don't like us as much as we like them. Oh well, guess we will be avoiding those in the future. I think doing the Paleo/Whole 30 Challenge was the ultimate way to clean out your system. Now I know exactly what is causing what problem. I kind of like that part of it.

It's possible that I could have a Non-Paleo meal but a cheat day may not be in the cards for me just yet. I can't seem to just keep it at one day. As a result I'm packing on the pounds again and that spare tire has returned. At least I know how to get rid of it again. I'll be experimenting here and there to see how my body responds. I did try a healthy muffin recipe this past week and my stomach swelled up! It was either the honey flavored Greek yogurt or the oatmeal. I'm not sure which because I haven't gotten back on the wagon enough to do a test run but I will.

I don't know anything further about my back. I'm in less pain but I'm just not 100% and I don't know when I will be. I did get fitted for Orthotics today. I'm hoping that will help my body alignment. Everything just seems to hang over my head with a big question mark right now.

Still working on: Operation: Humpty Dumpty

Eating out:

Pomodorras

My Work Outs this past week-

1/30 Monday - Injured

1/31 Tuesday - Crossfit Super modified work out

2/1 Wednesday - Injured

2/2 Thursday - Crossfit Super modified work out

2/3 Friday - Injured

2/4 Saturday - Injured

2/5 Sunday -Injured

Scale Reading - Gaining it all back! A nice 5 pound gain from a free for all weekend.

Stress Level -HIGH - Every time I go to a new doctor they tell me something new that is wrong with me.

The UP side-I am STILL super woman.

I'm changing up my video series this year. I'm going to try and provide you with exercises that will help your body while you are working out with your regularly scheduled work outs.

Stretching is important!

Be a good role model.

Need for fitness support? Join the "Sistahood". More great resources: The Y, Crossfit Training, Vitamins for your age group, RealAge.com

The long term goal 37 pounds by the end of the year.
The short term goal lose 3 lbs. per month.

January 172 - 160 = 12 pound loss
February 165 -
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

5 Fingers of Thanks

2012-02-05T17:26:00.000-06:00

1.) Thankful that I finally made the time for a Pedicure! It was awesome and my feet are so happy.

2.) Thankful to have had a nice lunch with some really awesome ladies.
3.) Thankful that two of my little people made it through their first wedding.

4.) Thankful she isn't old enough to catch the bouquet. Dad says so. lol

5.) Thankful that we get fitted for orthotics tomorrow!

Veggie Lettuce Cups

2012-02-04T15:30:00.000-06:00

There is a recipe called Chicken Vegetable Lettuce Cups but I used lean ground sirloin instead. The recipe calls for a a LOT of different peppers and onions. It's a little too much for my taste. I opted not to use all of them but I did use most of what was called for. Personally I like my standard taco meat that has taco seasoning like this: I'm adding the recipe because it has measurements and I usually just season to taste.

Taco Seasoning
1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
1 1/2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons oregano
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes ( a dash or two)

You might also like to try the recipe Taco Veggie Lettuce Cups.

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Links for 2009-09-22 [Digg]

2009-09-23T00:00:00-07:00

Read for the Record
Jumpstart believes in the potential inside of each child to succeed and learn and focuses on early literacy as the path to fulfilling that potential. As a mother, as an educator, and as a human being, I believe that literacy is one of the most important gifts we can give to our children. Reading is a key to entire worlds filled with possibilities.

Links for 2009-09-12 [Digg]

2009-09-13T00:00:00-07:00

10 new stadium anthems: Lil Wayne, M.I.A., Green Day - HitFi
NFL fans may -- and will -- have to contend with the grim fact that Cotteneyed Joe is still being boomed in stadiums across America, as the regular season kicks off this week.But there are, of course, lasting and great stadium anthems to be had. Ozzys Crazy Train will still encourage handclapping in unison. House of Pains Jump Around elicits it
Diaper Cake Giveaway - Win a Free Diaper Cake
Enter to win one of these cute diaper cakes. The winner will get to choose the gender.