Update Post, Grilled Cheese Dunkers with Tomato Soup, Cardio, Banana Bites.

*Quick Updates*

1. I'm falling behind in blogging I know. 
2. My Biology class and lab is stressful, but I know I'll get through it.  
3. My Aunt (Mom's Sister) just found out she has cancer, possible stage 4. We'll know all the details tomorrow after their appointment with the oncologist. I'm guessing we'll get a good idea of what is going to happen and possibly how long she has to live. Its really hurting my whole family, we could use a little prayer or two.
4.  I've been at my mom's house, upstate, for a week. I just got back yesterday. 
5.  Weight loss has been going good, except when I was at my mom's house. I probably gained a little bit. Travis and I had an agreement that when I get back home we are going to change the boy's bedtime to 8 at night instead of 9, so that we can work out together. (We have work out gear in our shed outside.) 
6. I've decided not to weigh myself religiously anymore. It isn't about weight to me anymore but about being healthy. And getting to a point to where I feel good (and look good). In other word as long as I feel as if I look good then I'll be okay. 

So I'll leave you with a few fun things. 

A little something, something to get your blood pumping!

These are so amazingly awesome, freeze banana slices then add peanut butter.

Liam helping mommy make grilled cheese dunkers.

 Grilled Cheese Dunkers and Tomato Soup 

Tomato Soup Recipe (click here). 
Grilled Cheese Dunkers:
Slices of bread
Slices of Cheese 
1 tbsp Butter 

All you need to do is flatten the bread with a rolling pin, add a slice of cheese, then roll it up. Repeat! Add to a pan with melted butter and cook on each side until brown, and cheese has melted.

Note:
The number of slices depends on how many you want to make. You could also take the crusts off and they would most likely look prettier. But I love the crust on a grilled cheese.
 

Monday Weigh-in and Day 8!

I lost 5.6lbs! :) it's a little Kate to post as Monday, but its 1am and the first chance I've gotten.

Breakfast: peach and blueberry breakfast cobbler 

Lunch: chicken strip salad 

Dinner: roasted tomato soup with grilled cheese Dunkers 

Day 7

 

Breakfast: Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal with a Diced Gala Apple and extra Cinnamon on top

Lunch: Chicken and Zucchini Bake and 2 cups Sauteed Cabbage 

Snack: Granny Smith Apple Slices with 2 tbsp Creamy Reduced Fat Peanut Butter (I'm in an apple mood today.)

Dinner: 4 oz Salmon Fillet and 1 yellow Squash cooked in the pan with 1 slice of bacon, Mrs. Dash Original Blend Seasoning and Salt.

I came up with the Chicken and Zucchini Bake on a whim. (Recipe at the end of this post!) And I submitted to the Sparkpeople's Sparkrecipes. :)

Quick Work out for the night. I didn't feel like doing too much, but wanted to burn at least 100 calories. 

	Chicken and Zucchini Bake
	Ingredients 2 zucchinis, sliced length wise 2 banana peppers sliced 2 baby bell peppers 3 cooked chicken breast, diced 3 med tomatoes, and 4 plum tomatoes pureed in a food processor for sauce with 1tsp basil 1 tsp oregano 1 tsp garlic powder 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese Nutritional Info Fat: 3.1g Carbohydrates: 12.7g Calories:169.3 Protein: 23.6g Layer zucchini, chicken, peppers and sauce ending with sauce. Bake at 375 for 45 minutes, then top with cheese and bake an additional 15 minutes. Serving Size: Serves 4 Number of Servings: 4

Day 6

 

Breakfast: Voskos Wild Strawberry Greek Yogurt with 5 medium sized strawberries sliced and mixed in. 

Lunch: Chicken Salad (Containing- Romaine, Parmesan cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers, zesty Italian dressing, and a baked chicken breast. )

Dinner: Summer Fajitas (recipe follows below) 

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Tonight I was making tacos, and as I'm browning the meat...I'm feeling really grossed out by it. Sometimes I'm very anti-red meat. Plus I wanted to have some leftover meat so that Travis could have Tacos for lunch tomorrow at work. So, I thought to myself no problem I'll just make myself some chicken fajitas with my leftover chicken...except I didn't have any peppers. Then, I was like...who needs chicken? Or peppers? With all the squash and zucchini I have from the Summer crop this makes an easy simple meal. I'm always trying to come up with new ways to use my squash and zucchini. I love it sauteed as a side, but sometimes that gets boring and old. If you're like me, and you have so many tomatoes, squash, and zucchini either from relatives or your garden..(mine are from my relatives). This is an awesome recipe to use some of your Summer veggies. 

I ended up not adding my chicken to this because I checked out  my tortillas, then my veggies and realized nothing else was going to fit in them! But this would be delicious with chicken, or shrimp!

Summer Fajitas 

Serves Two. 

Ingredients:
1 cup diced squash
1 cup diced zucchini
1 yellow onion sliced
1 small tomato sliced
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp chili poweder
1/2 tsp cumin 
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp light sour cream
2 flour tortillas (100 cals each or less)

 

Directions: Heat olive oil over medium heat, prepare your veggies while your pan heats up. Swirl the oil around in the pan, then add your veggies to the hot oil. Mix your veggies around with a spatula to coat with oil, then stir in seasoning. Cook, stirring often, until veggies have softened.  Add 1 tbsp of sour cream to each tortilla and top each tortilla with an even amount of veggies. Enjoy.

I like to look through magazine for recipes, workouts, house plans, garden plans, things to do with the kids, or for the kids. Here is an awesome work out I got from Redbook Magazine for your booty. I have a paper copy in a folder BUT I looked on the internet and found it for any readers I may have. Also for my own keeping. :)

Redbook's 15 Minute Best Booty Workout!!!

For Instructions Click Here! 

Day 5

Breakfast: Peanut Butter Belgian Waffle topped with frozen bananas blended in the food processor.

Lunch: Caesar Salad with chopped tomatoes, black olives, Parmesan cheese, and mixed deluxe nuts. 

Dinner: Sautéed Cabbage with Zucchini Cakes.


Just bleeeeeeh on today. We lost a goose , Winifred. So I'm a little sad about it. I would've cried though had it been my Alfred, he's my favorite out of our geese.

Also I keep trying to upload my recipe for homemade tomato sauce, and it isn't working. Promise to get that up soon though!

Day4

Breakfast: zucchini hash browns (recipe coming as soon as I perfect them)

Lunch: squash sliced thinly to act as noodles (sautéed) with one large tomato I put through my new food processor with oregano, basil, garlic, pepper , and red pepper flakes . Sprinkled with Parmesan.

Dinner: 1 slice of sausage pie, and a side salad.

Plus taste tests of waffles and waffle batter lol

I pretty much ate veggies all day so that I could have a slice of sausage pie for dinner. :) Not complaining!

For my sausage pie recipe click here! 

Day 3

Breakfast:
1 slice of whole grain toast
2 tablespoons of applesauce spread on top
Sprinkled with ground cinnamon 
Sprinkled with deluxe mixed nuts

Lunch:
A big salad out of several veggies with Thousand Island Dressing

Dinner:
Cheesy Buffalo Cauliflower
Celery Sticks
Light Ranch for Dipping
1 loaded potato cake with about 1 tsp of ketchup on top

I decided to do some of my work out apps.

Breaded Pork Chops. Dinner to Lunch

Breaded pork chops with stuffing, corn, and green beans.

First, let me explain... a little thing about Travis, that I've probably explained before. Travis is super picky, I'm pretty sure that might be where Liam gets it from. The WHOLE time we lived in Montana we NEVER ate pork chops because he said he didn't like them, because he didn't like the way his mom use to make them. WHAT??? Yeah. So, fast forward a few years Travis and I are both back in SC in the middle of remodeling our house so staying between parents. I'm at my dad's house making dinner for everyone and I make BBQ pork chops. Then, I remember Travis doesn't like pork chops. Then, I think to myself..oh well if he doesn't eat them he will starve. Travis eyeballs them and I can tell he's like ewww but he won't say anything in front of my parents. We sit down and eat, and what do you know? Travis loves them. We've moved up since then to breaded pork chops. I try not to fry much these does so when I bread them, I bake them.

Another husband funny, he doesn't eat veggies. The past week and a half I've been cooking for just us..so I make our food and then I make a veggie on the side for myself. The other night I made some mini meatball subs for us with french fries for Travis and carrot fries for myself. He eyeballed my carrots and asked if he could try one and guess what...he LIKES them. The same thing happened the other night when I sauteed some summer squash, he asked if he could try them, liked them, and wouldn't get off my plate. Haha. SOO, yes! Wife win!

Breaded Pork Chops
6 pork chops
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon seasoning salt
2 eggs, beaten
¼ cup all-purpose flour
2 cups Italian-style seasoned bread crumbs
4 Tablespoons olive oil

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Rinse pork chops, pat dry, and season with garlic powder and seasoning salt to taste. Place the beaten eggs in a small bowl. Dredge the pork chops lightly in flour, dip in the egg, and coat liberally with bread crumbs. Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Fry the pork chops 5 minutes per side, or until the breading appears well browned. Transfer the chops to a 9x13 inch baking dish, and cover with foil. Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour.

And in good two-fer fashion this is how I turned leftovers in to a delicious salad for lunch. :) 

I tried to change the title on this after I realized that it is *sorta* fried...I'm going to let it go since its with olive oil. LOL

For the salad I did:
1 Cup Spinach
1 Cup Romaine
1/4 Cup Corn
1 Red Onion Slice
2 Slices Chopped Tomatoes 
1/4 Cup Reduced Fat or 2% Shredded Cheese

Any Dressing of your choice works, a light ranch is nice here though.

Quick Pizzas For Lunch

First things first my husband (and myself) are really in love with the flatout brand of thin crusts and wraps. They are delicious and they have lighter versions. You can usually find them in the deli section of your grocer. The two places I've found them is the commissary and Walmart. 

Another thing, as most know, Liam is picky (like his dad) but pizza is his favorite. Usually I know that if I make him pizza he'll eat it.

We love homemade crust but who wants to roll out dough and spend hours making it all the time. Not I! Here are my favorite go tos for quick lunches. 

Flatout bread

Bagels 

Toast 

Pita bread (my personal fave) 

Tortilla 

Buns 

Breaded veggies like eggplant, zucchini

Portabella Mushroom 

Pizza grilled cheese 

And nothing fancy goes in to this, just sauce, cheese, and toppings. Done! And everyone is happy. 

Squash Nuggets!

I attempted making squash in chicken nugget form the other day, it actually worked well but it didn’t fool Blake in to thinking it was chicken nuggets. Haha! But he still liked it. We’re already getting squash and potatoes out of Travis’s grandpa’s garden which is exciting because I LOVE summer squash. You’ll be seeing a lot of recipes with squash in them this summer.   These are made with simple ingredients you have in your fridge, it is quick and easy for lunch time!

 

Squash Nuggets

2 yellow summer squash, chopped in to thick diced pieces

1 cup bread crumbs

1 egg

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

½ tsp paprika

Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions:  Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Spray cooking spray on baking sheet. Chop your squash.  Beat an egg in to a small bowl and mix together bread crumbs and seasoning on a plate.  Dip your squash in to the beaten egg and then coat in the bread crumb mixture.  Arrange on baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes, flip then bake another 10 minutes. Serve with ketchup or honey mustard! 

Also thanks Ma for the random vegetable shaped dishes. :) They shall be very cute with my future posts.

Happy Wednesday!

Broccoli, Spinach, & Tomato pancakes!

Let's chat a second about how much of a picky eater my Mr.Liam is. Vegetable on his plate? Forget it. Pasta? Forget it. Bread-like food? YES. My lover of all things carb.  Fruit? You bet, Yes! Broccoli, Spinach, or Tomatoes- Yeah right! Except, maybe if they are made to look like pancakes? I had some leftover broccoli, and some tomatoes and spinach that needed to be used. It was worth a shot, here is my little invention for the day. Serve with marinara, ranch, or ketchup. We used ketchup and it was delicious. I couldn't stop nomming on them! It could work as breakfast too though!

 

Ingredients

• 1 cup broccoli, blended on chop
• 1/2 cup tomatoes, blended on chop
• 1/2 cup spinach, blended on chop
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 clove of garlic (1 teaspoon garlic powder)
• canola or vegetable oil 

Directions:  Prepare all your veggies. I used leftover broccoli for supper the night before so it was roasted. But I imagine if you have a food processor you can use fresh without a problem. Then mix together the rest of the ingredients, minus oil. 

Mixed together 

Put about 1 tablespoon of mixture each on a heated medium high heat pan with oil. 

Cook until brown. :) 

I know they look kind of funky, not the prettiest recipe I have prepared but, Liam actually ate them and enjoyed them. So I call it a winner! I even have photo proof that he liked them and ate them! Not to mention Blake and I loved them as well.