Weekend Round UP

     What a great weekend!  I went into the negatives by SEVEN points, but I tracked everything so we'll call that a win.  Hoping to just make that up with some exercise this week.  I did go for a run yesterday at lunch.  I hit the 5K button and did an interval run.  I've never done that and I have to say I didn't hate every second of it!  My weigh in is tomorrrow so we'll see how I did.  Fingers crossed! 

     Friday night our friends hosted dinner which was fabulous!  Spicy sausage pasta.  If you've never had this, it's a must and so easy. It cooks in one pan, I love that.  After the fact I remembered I wanted to take a picture!  After dinner Hila read Eli and Hazel and book while they drank their milk and then it was off to bed for them.  We then played catch phrase which was a lot of fun.


Is there anything sweeter than this?  I think not!

     Saturday we woke up, had breakfast and cleaned the house.  I love a clean house and I love getting it done early so I have the rest of the weekend to enjoy.  Hazel is scared of the vacuum, so I came around the corner and saw this.  Gotta do what you gotta do!

 
     Hazel and I left after her morning nap for a playdate with some adorable babies while Jason worked on our kitchen a little.  I brought home sushi for dinner from Kumo which was so good. I was craving some sushi like no other.  We had a relaxing night just hanging out.  I also did something really bad, I bought cookie ice cream sandwiches.  WHY?  Why do that to myself?!  I did track it though. 

     Sunday I put away some laundry and then headed to Costco with my mom.  A good friend/old-coworker who's been living and working in Egypt this past year was in the states visiting so we of course got together along with some other friends.  It was so good to see her and hear all about what she's been doing.  It was really great to see her and everyone!

     I do have my dinners planned out for the week, that's a must from now on if I want to stay on plan.  Last night was leftover chili, tonight we have a back to school night so we'll have to have something quick.  I'm thinking Chicken Tikka.  Tomorrow night I'm making french dip sandwiches.  My favorite!  Thursday night will be leftovers.  Friday night is of course pizza.  I found something at costco called rolls ups which are only 3 points!  I'll make my pizza using one of those.  For lunch all week I'm having tuna salad on a roll up, fruit and a side of pumpkin soup if I'm still hungry.  Yesterday I didn't have the soup because the roll up is huge and really filling.  Kind of nervous for my weigh in tomorrow, I just want to see that scale go down!  Have a great week!    

Orange Chicken and Ice Cream

     Yesterday I decided to completely re-start on Weight Watchers for what seems like the bazillionth time.  3rd 5th times a charm?!  It doesn't matter how many times you fall off, as long as you get right back on.  I'm sure I'll have days where I completely go over my points and my weekly points, but as long as I pick myself up and get right back on plan that's what matters!  I was completely on plan yesterday and it felt great.  I made a great dinner, and even had ice cream for dessert.  I've always loved my dessert but I tell ya, after having Hazel my sweet tooth came in full force!  I love WW because I can eat what I want.  I'm not stuck eating frozen meals, or starving though out the day.  For dinner we had Orange Chicken, yuuuuuuuuuuuum.  I love skinnytaste.com and have made many things from her website.  I have some chicken drumsticks from her website in the crock pot right now cooking for dinner.  I bet the smell of deliciousness is going to hit me the minute I walk in the door!  

     Along my journey to lose weight I'm going to be hit more than once with obstacles, and you have to learn to adapt.  For instance today I had my lunch packed, points calculated and ready to rock and roll.  Then I'm asked to go to a work lunch.  Does panic set in?  No!  I find out where we're going and pull up the menu so I know ahead of time what to order.  The restaurant even had a meal calculator which makes my life ten times easier!  I've decided to go with a farmhouse salad, no cheese.  This will put me at 14 points which is more than I like to allow for lunch, but it's better than a burger and fries!  Now all I need to do is avoid the chips and onion dip that I'm sure will be ordered as a starter. I'm on day two and not about to let some chips set me off plan.  I'd much rather save my weeklies for the weekend.  

     Today is my Friday, I'll be home with Hazel tomorrow because my mom is out of town.  I'm VERY much looking forward to it.  I've gotten in no exercise this week, so I plan to take a nice long walk with her!  She loves to be outside and I heard it's going to be a really nice day which I'm kind of torn about.  I love that we can go for a walk outside, but at the same time I can't help but think it's November for crying outloud!  Aren't we supposed to be in boots and light coats?!  I LOVE fall, that's no secret so I was very quick to check the weather next week and it looks like we'll finally have our Fall weather.  So if you are a warm weather person, enjoy tomorrow because next week is 50's and 60's.........whooooooooohooooooooooooo!  Bring on the sweaters!

     Here's our dinner.  I made mine with cauliflower rice (the boys had rice), which I really enjoy.  Trader Joe's sells it, although they are out of it at the moment so I just made mine by using my food processor.  We had it with a side of broccoli, Hazel loves broccoli!  My dinner was a total of only 6 points!

     For dessert I loaded my bowl with bananas and topped it with a serving size of slow churned peanut butter cup ice cream and mini chocolate chips.  Completely hit the spot.  4 points which is a little more than I usually use for dessert, but I had the points so why not!

 

The weekend that wasn't

on plan.  Well another weekend has come and gone.  Another weekend of thinking this is the weekend, this is the weekend I will stick to my plan.  Fail!  What can you do?!  I had a plan going in to the weekend, I just ignored every last bit of it except for Friday night that is.  I planned to enjoy the night with Jason for his birthday and I did!  We had a great time Friday night and a really good dinner.  We started with the pasta sampler, five pastas to try and share.  We then moved on to the steak sampler and we both agreed the balsamic filet was our favorite even though people rave about the blueberry filet.   We were so full after we passed on dessert, that is until our server brought over panna cotta to share. Light and delicious.  

   
     Saturday was filled with pizza and candy.  I definitely got my little mits into Tyler's Halloween bag, I couldn't help myself!  We had a great time at a friends house walking around with the kids.

Are they cute or what?!

      Sunday we went to church and then to my aunt's house to celebrate some birthdays.  Make your own pizza.  Remember my plan to fill mine with veggies and bring a salad to share?  Well that didn't happen.  I really enjoyed a white pizza my sister made, along with a slice of a combination.  Instead of a cake my aunt did chocolate covered fruit which was a great idea and so delicious!

Notice the jersey's: a Packers fan and a Broncos fan.  No one was hurt in the making of these desserts!

     So here I sit Monday morning looking back on a fun weekend, but a weekend I indulged a little too much.  I have two options.  I can fester over a weekend I can't go back and do anything about, or I can get right back on plan.  I'll choose the latter.  I said to a close friend who also follows WW this weekend "I feel like I'm constantly starting over after a weekend gone wrong."  She said to me "why don't you start back up on Monday and stick to the plan through Thanksgiving?"  So that is the mini goal I have set for myself.  I have my weekly menu already made, taking it one week at a time.

     

     Here's the menu:

Monday through Friday Breakfast: Homemade egg McMuffins with a side of fruit.  

Monday through Friday Lunch: Kale, turkey sausage and potato soup with a side salad.

Dinners:

Monday-  Turkey bolognese over spaghetti squash with a slice of french bread.

Tuesday- Orange chicken with cauliflower rice

Wednesday- Fish tacos with cilantro slaw

Thursday- Maple balsamic drumsticks with purple potatoes.

Friday- Friday is always pizza night.  I'm pretty pizza'ed out so maybe I'll make extra orange chicken and save it for dinner to have while the boys have pizza because they can never have enough pizza!

Dessert will NOT BE TYLER'S HALLOWEEN CANDY!  Instead I'll bust out my yonanas maker and top that with mini chocolate chips!  So there you have it, a weekend round up tied in with a new goal set!

     

 

Happy Birthday Jason!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THIS GUY RIGHT HERE!  

     I can't wait to celebrate with Jason tonight! A date night just the two of us, we are so looking forward to it!  He is the most patient person I have ever met, an amazing father and such a hard worker. There isn't anything he wouldn't do for his family and tonight it's all about him!  I made dinner reservations at Acqua Al 2 after some great yelp reviews so I hope it doesn't disappoint.

     I was thinking what a hard weekend this was going to be when it came to eating and all of the events going on (Jason's birthday, Halloween at a friends house, family dinner) but in reality it doesn't have to be hard if I have a plan.  Planning is key, and if you know me you know I love a good plan.  Like really love a good plan!  Tonight my plan is to simply enjoy.  It's a celebration so I'm not going to stuff my face until I can't move, but I will enjoy it. For Halloween we are ordering pizza, trick or treating and getting together with the gang.  I know some of the girls are watching their points as well so maybe we can order a loaded veggie pizza?!  Sunday we are having a family dinner celebrating Jason and my uncle Jon's birthdays.  Dinner consists of making our own pizzas, it's a pizza filled weekend!  So here's my plan, to load mine with tons of fresh tomatoes, pineapple and some canadian bacon.  I'll also bring a salad to share to go with the pizza.  Simple enough right?  My long term plan of Halloween is to keep my little mits out of Tyler's Halloween candy bag!!! Who's to say I won't get in some exercise at some point this weekend as well.  Make a plan and stick to it, that's the goal.

    Well, I hope everyone has a fun and safe Halloween!  Here's to a fun filled weekend!

  

Round Two!

I don't even know where to start!?  It's been over a year since I got on here to write anything.  I actually just got through reading old posts.  That was fun and it got me thinking about how much I enjoyed blogging and it's even more fun to go back and read.  So here's what's new.  I had a baby over a year ago!   Her name is Hazel Kelly Potter and she's 14 months old.  The love.of.my.life I must say.  Everyone told me while I was pregnant you can't explain the love you will have for your child, and well you just can't.  It's unreal.  My last blog post I was actually pregnant but super early so I wasn't sharing the news.  I really enjoyed being pregnant, I mean reallllllllllllly enjoyed it.  I gained 40ish pounds and I tell you what she is worth every pound I gained.  So now here I sit still trying to lose the weight I gained, I have 12 pounds to lose so maybe that's what brings me back to my blog, some accountability?!   

This is a pretty recent picture of her from the Fairfax Fall Festival.  That face, I just can't!

So while reading old posts I was recalling how I was really getting into running, not really enjoying it so much, but really enjoying how it made me feel after I would complete a run.  I stopped when I got pregnant and just recently started back up. I completed the couch to 5k for the second time and I have to say I still don't enjoy running.  I don't think I ever will and that's ok.  What I enjoy is the feeling after, the feeling of I did it!  I run during lunch, it seems to be the best time I have to get it done.  I'm not a super early work out riser, and when I'm home I like to enjoy my time with my family.  I'm back on WW, online instead of attending meetings and I find I just need something else to keep me accountalble.  I plan to check in as often as I can.  Shoot, I don't know if anyone will even read this, but writing it and putting it out there is enough for me! I'll write about my weight loss journey, food (recipes) with a mixture of just everyday life.  Round two, here we go!

Where ya been?!?!

Phew, it's been so long I almost forgot how to GET to my blog to post!  Oops!  I hope everyone has been having a great new year so far.  As for me, so far so good!  What is not in good standing is me and the gym. I guess the first part is admitting you have a problem right?  Well it's a problem when these suckers are in your closet for the ENTIRE MONTH OF DECEMBER INTO JANUARY!  I kind of forgot what they looked like but put them on today and was quickly reminded!

I didn't have the best time I'd say. Getting back into it slowly with a walk at an incline, but something is better than nothing right?  I even ended up chatting with a lady who I've seen quite often down there and made it a point to say "see you next week", because I plan on going next week!  So have no fear, if your goal was to work out and you haven't started, THERE STILL IS TIME!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!  We have a Saturday filled with errands, followed by dinner with a friend and then Sunday is a girls brunch.  Can't wait for that!  

Golden Delicious................BEETS!

I don't know about you but I LOVE me some beets! After the farmer's market a few weekends ago I was taught how to make some delicious golden beets by none other than Elyanah Pinchas!

Let me share:

First look at this mom and daughter duo!  Both know their way around a kitchen, let me tell you!

Here's what you'll need:

(You'll need about 2 bunches of golden beets).

First you are going to cut off the tops and bottoms of the beets.

Next put them in a big pot and cover with water.

Bring to a boil, once boiled simmer for 40 minutes, until fork tender.

Drain and allow to cool.  Just look at that little cute momma to be!  So happy for her and Bobby! 

While beets cool boil a cup of water, cup of vinegar, 1/2 tsp of salt, 1/4 tsp of pepper and a pinch of sugar.  Bring to a boil and let cool.

Once the beets are cool enough to touch peel them.  You can easily peel them with your fingers.

Cut out any spots that don't look good.

(see that black spot, that is what you are cutting out).

Once you have removed all of the spots that don't look good you will cut the beets in cubes or slices.  

And finally the last step.  Pour the vinegar mixture over the beets and give a little stir so vinegar gets all over the beets.

Voila!!  Delicious golden beets.  I've really been enjoying these over my salads!  Being the only one who will eat beets in my house I'm glad these can last 3-4 weeks! 

 Thanks again for the lesson ladies!