Breakfast Bake :: Recipe to Come!

A good start to the day, protein & veggies! Mmmmm. - Posted from my Mobile

Strategy #1 :: Planning Ahead

So in this new year, I have refocused myself towards the goal that I started almost a year ago and am using the tools that I have in order to achieve that goal. So Rob and I had "date night" last Friday where we went out to dinner and a movie...but in the middle of that we did some menu planning and went grocery shopping.One of the secrets that I believe heavily in is planning ahead.

So we sit down and peruse WW magazines, Food Network magazines and my WW Kitchen Companion app for the iPad. We plan out usually 2 weeks at a time and exactly which meal we will be eating on which day - taking into account how many leftovers we will have for lunches, slow cooker meals we can make while lounging at home and what could be a quick meal after a nice run.

So here is what we have, starting with today:

• Sunday, January 8th - Crock Pot Mexican Chicken Stew over Brown Rice
• Wednesday, January 11th - Stuffed Cabbage Hot Dish
• Thursday, January 12th - Rosemary Pork Tenderloin with Root Veggies & Swiss Chard
• Saturday, January 14th - Williams Family Beef Stew with Crusty Homemade Bread
• Sunday, January 15th - Slow Cooker Bolognese Rigatoni with Arugula Salad
• Monday, January 16th - Stove Top Cassoulet
• Tuesday, January 17th - Jeremy's Red Curry over Brown Rice
• Friday, January 20th :: Rob's Birthday - Poulet Au Vinaigre (Chicken Thighs w Shallots in a Red Wine Vinegar - 2 of Rob's favorite things)

So what I'm going to try to do is document the making of these culinary masterpieces. More to come. GO FALCONS!!!- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

New Year, New Focus, New Attitude!!!

So here it is 2012 and for the past few weeks I have been feeling sort of...well, stuck. I mean I have been "sort of" watching what I eat and "sort of" exercising and "sort of" attending my meetings. But now is the time to continue on the journey that has brought me such great success over the last 10 months.

And after meeting my cousin for lunch today, have decided to continue my blog and share my shenanigans with all that would like to read. A recipe here, a great running song there - and all of the good bits (and bad bits) in between. So today I will say this - Instead of giving myself reasons why I can't, I will now be giving myself reasons why I can.

Until tomorrow!

What's for dinner?

What is it you say, how about Rob's World Famous Hungarian Goulash!!! I would consider this one of the reasons I fell in love with him - seriously. He made it for me on one of our first dates and I was HOOKED. And hers's the recipe for everyone to try. Enjoy!




Hungarian Goulash

A drier goulash than traditional, this is great served over wheat egg noodles.

3 sprays of canola oil
2 large onions, thinly sliced
1 lb. cremini mushrooms
2 tbs. paprika
1/2 tsp. salt
1 clove garlic, minced
2 lbs. lean beef (you can use turkey or chicken as well)
2 cups drained canned tomatoes
2 cups of frozen peas
1/4 cup fat free sour cream, at room temperature
Half a package of whole wheat egg noodles
Chopped parsley (optional)

Spray canola oil inside of a casserole pan with a cover. Add the onion slices and cook gently for 10 minutes. Stir in the mushrooms, paprika, salt and garlic; cooking for 2 more minutes. Remove the onions with a slotted spoon and set aside. Turn up the heat and brown the beef (or other desired protein), a few pieces at a time, in the pan juices. Return the onions & mushroom mixture to a crockpot with all the meat and add the tomatoes. Cover and set on high for 3 hours. Add peas and wait a few minutes for the peas to heat through. Add a bit of the broth to the sour cream so that it doesn't curdle, and then add that to the crockpot.

Cook the noodles using the instructions on the back of the package. Serve the goulash over a quarter of the noodles (add a bit of chopped parsley on top) and enjoy.

Serves 4
10 points per serving (includes the noodles)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

10% down - on my way to 32%

So Friday was a fantastic day to cap off a great week. Let me run it down for you:

1. It was a short week with the 4th of July being on Monday. It gave Rob and I a whole day to spend together - we got some coffee, quick bite for lunch and then topped it off with burgers, baked beans and potato salad. All in all a great American Holiday.
2. I was able to run twice for a total of almost 6 miles
3. Then Friday started with great news - as Weight Watchers FINALLY listened to me and adapted their incredible iPhone Tracker AP into an iPad friendly masterpiece. It is truly wonderful and I am quite impressed.
4. And it didn't stop there - oh no! Debbie, Leslie & I were off to our weekly WI where I lost4 lbs. for a total of 31.4 in 18 weeks and putting me beyond my 10% goal of 29 lbs. IT WAS AMAZING! The only thing (and it really doesn't bother me too much) is that the token you get for reaching the 10% goal is a key chain. But not just any key chain - a pink platedkey chain. WW really need to keep updating their tools and sell thisprocess to men, and they have started marketing that way - but let's start making these things more gender neutral. There I said my piece - I mean I am using it, I earned it!!!
5. Then if that wasn't enough - I had my PBM (fancy acronym for our performance review process) with my boss Mr. Katz. So twice a year we sit down with our supervisor and take a look back at the last 6 months and decide what the goals of the next 6 months will be. And let me tell you - when I left his office roughly an hour after going in - I felt like I was floating on air. He helped me look back and realize that I had many accomplishments to be proud of.

And so now Rob and I are lounging - getting ready to head down to my parents for a dip in the pool and some BBQ. And I look forward to working had for the next 5 weeks before we head out to Barcelona to start our stay on the Celebrity Solstice, with my new goal of 12 more

lbs. by then. Keep you all posted.

Not every idea is a winner - just ask Mr. Sheen!

Some ideas stick. You think them up, plan, execute and enjoy the spoils of your labors. And then some just don't. You try and evolve and rework your idea - but in the end there is just one piece that doesn't fit. Just doesn't work. The following are 2 of the latest ideas that Rob & I (or sometimes only me) have come up with and experimented with.

1. Our Urban Garden
2. The City Kitty
   

So our garden is doing AMAZING - can't wait for the next harvest. We toiled and hoed and cultivated. We pull water for the rain barrels, and cut back the old growth for the new growth to start. We nurture the plants and give them love and attention - they can't meow back and are not stubborn, so it's pretty easy.

Now unfortunately the same CANNOT be said on the City Kitty front. I tried and tried and tried to be patient - and Reggie just held out strong. She cried and wined and just wouldn't jump onto the toilet and try. I just wanted her to try, give it a good old college try. And then there it was - poop on the bathroom floor only 1 foot away from the f'in City Kitty contraption. I mean I followed the instructions, step by step and she just wouldn't budge.

Oh well - I may try again after the cruise.

But back to our Urban Garden - we've had TONS of tomatoes and jalapeno peppers. And blueberries - honest to god blueberries (well only about 18 of them - but they were tasty!) And so a week or so ago we ripped out all of our beans and peas; replanted and now have the signs of life. We decided to give up on watermelon, cantaloupe and pumpkin - I mean for all the hassle it's just easier to buy them when you want them.

We have cucumbers coming as well as carrots, beets, potatoes (sweet & russet), lettuce, artichokes and asparagus. I little oasis on our roof - I'll post some pictures when I get home.

Kitty on Krack!

- Posted from my Mobile