A little more progress made on the weight loss front: 2 lbs down this week! Last week was nada, so I am happy to see something happening! I lost a couple daily points with my weight loss, so that is a bummer, but hopefully it will help me continue to lose it, little by little;)
Breakfasts: cold cereal, oatmeal, toast, eggs, fruit (egg sandwich for me...whole wheat slice of bread with two "fried" eggs or scrambled eggs with veggies and a little meat.
Lunch/snacks: leftovers, hot dogs, pasta, soup, salad (for me), green smoothies (I have a green smoothie pretty much every morning at around 9:30 these days... the girls have some too usually! Usually its frozen bananas, spinach, and one other fruit plus enough water to make it blend into a smoothie consistency. Filling, a great way to sneak in more veggies and 0 points +!
Dinners:
Monday: Homemade Chicken noodle soup (using up a chicken carcass for the broth and lots of leftover veggies from our party yesterday), hot dogs, baked beans (more leftovers), broccoli
Tuesday: Meatloaf (turkey one for me!), mashed potatoes, salad , cooked carrots
Wednesday: Chimichangas with all the goodies on top
Thursday: Garden Penne with lemon & chicken
Friday: Aussie Chicken and mashed potatoes, green beans
Saturday: Camping! Spaghetti, homemade meatballs, salad
Sunday: Camping! (burgers and dogs most likely:)
What's on your menu this week (and any low points ideas are always welcome!)
Monday, June 27, 2011
1st anniversary & my big helper
Uncle Jon and Auntie Cole celebrated their 1st anniversary this month. They shared a bite of their wedding anniversary cake with my big girl.
She is such a big helper with Louis. Sometimes a little too much (we found she'd picked him up yesterday when he was crying!), but mostly its a great help to us. Can you see the family resemblance;)? These two must've gotten a lot of the same genes!
Here is the big helper holding Louis after the picking him up incident (daddy explained that he would let her hold him almost anytime, but needed to ask first:) Notice Louis' pacifier? He's the first baby we've used one with successfully and it can be really helpful:) He usually only will take it when he is going down for a nap but here mommy was finishing up some last minute food prep for our big party and needed 5 more minutes until I fed him:)
Louis turns 2 months on Friday! He'll go in to his 2 month checkup on Tuesday of next week. I am pretty sure he's getting close to 12 lbs now (he's in 3-6 month clothes!) and is probably still in the top of the charts for length. We'll be checking out his feet...they've been really turned in since birth and the Dr.'s can decide whether it is from his position in the uterus or it is something we need to look into physical therapy for. I am hoping for the former of course!
She is such a big helper with Louis. Sometimes a little too much (we found she'd picked him up yesterday when he was crying!), but mostly its a great help to us. Can you see the family resemblance;)? These two must've gotten a lot of the same genes!
Here is the big helper holding Louis after the picking him up incident (daddy explained that he would let her hold him almost anytime, but needed to ask first:) Notice Louis' pacifier? He's the first baby we've used one with successfully and it can be really helpful:) He usually only will take it when he is going down for a nap but here mommy was finishing up some last minute food prep for our big party and needed 5 more minutes until I fed him:)
Louis turns 2 months on Friday! He'll go in to his 2 month checkup on Tuesday of next week. I am pretty sure he's getting close to 12 lbs now (he's in 3-6 month clothes!) and is probably still in the top of the charts for length. We'll be checking out his feet...they've been really turned in since birth and the Dr.'s can decide whether it is from his position in the uterus or it is something we need to look into physical therapy for. I am hoping for the former of course!
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Asian Ginger Salad Dressing
I should've taken a picture but we had the yummiest (healthy) dinner tonight! We picked lettuce and peas from our garden, used organic juice carrots from Costco and then marinated chicken on top. I made this yummy Asian Ginger Salad dressing, which was super easy and delicious!
Asian Ginger Salad Dressing
Asian Ginger Salad Dressing
Monday, June 20, 2011
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Happy Father's Day! Daniel was still getting over his sickness today so we didn't do much but grill steaks. We had potato salad, green salad and an asian coleslaw that was really tasty to go with it (Daniel and I aren't much for regular coleslaw but we had a huge cabbage from the farmer's market).
Breakfasts: cold cereal, oatmeal, toast, eggs, fruit (egg sandwich for me...whole wheat slice of bread with two "fried" eggs: filling, low points and I haven't gotten sick of it yet:)
Lunch/snacks: leftovers, hot dogs, pasta, soup, salad (for me), green smoothies
Dinners:
Monday: Sauteed Swiss Chard and Buttered Whole Wheat Noodles
Tuesday: Bean & Rice Tacos, Cooked Carrots
Wednesday: Potato, Turkey & pea skillet
Thursday: White Bean Soup (similar to one at Friends for Weightloss), grilled cheese, or white chicken chili
Friday: Skinny Chicken Tikka Masala over rice
Saturday: Spaghetti, French Bread, Salad for game night
Sunday: Hosting a BBQ hopefully, so hot dogs and who knows what else (bring a side dish)
What's on your menu this week (and any low points ideas are always welcome!)
Breakfasts: cold cereal, oatmeal, toast, eggs, fruit (egg sandwich for me...whole wheat slice of bread with two "fried" eggs: filling, low points and I haven't gotten sick of it yet:)
Lunch/snacks: leftovers, hot dogs, pasta, soup, salad (for me), green smoothies
Dinners:
Monday: Sauteed Swiss Chard and Buttered Whole Wheat Noodles
Tuesday: Bean & Rice Tacos, Cooked Carrots
Wednesday: Potato, Turkey & pea skillet
Thursday: White Bean Soup (similar to one at Friends for Weightloss), grilled cheese, or white chicken chili
Friday: Skinny Chicken Tikka Masala over rice
Saturday: Spaghetti, French Bread, Salad for game night
Sunday: Hosting a BBQ hopefully, so hot dogs and who knows what else (bring a side dish)
What's on your menu this week (and any low points ideas are always welcome!)
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Family News in June
The girls in their swimsuit "tutus" in their homemade tent:):
~Daniel is sick with some sort of whole body yuckiness and a super swollen throat (as in he can't get much of anything down since it hurts so bad)
~Louis slept 7 hours in a row twice this week!!
~dad and Daniel made good progress on the playhouse/shed
~Liv decided to potty train herself this week and has been making it to the potty to pee 90% of the time on her own for pee-pee (the other has a much lower success rate;)
~Weight Watchers and exercise are both going well, I've found a number of recipes that make me feel like I am getting a treat but are low points (like a chocolate banana frosty!)
~Our local farmer's market opened and I got two huge cabbages, chard and beautiful broccoli for this week. Martin's Market score: 10lbs of marked-down bananas (great since we eat at least 5 a day around here!) I did most of our other shopping @ Costco...sweet potatoes, potatoes, organic carrots, bananas, coffee
Here's a picture of our new suburban in case anyone was wondering what we got instead of our trusty Honda:
That's about it! (PS, that's really our suburban, my dad just took a really nice picture of it at Icicle)
~Daniel is sick with some sort of whole body yuckiness and a super swollen throat (as in he can't get much of anything down since it hurts so bad)
~Louis slept 7 hours in a row twice this week!!
~dad and Daniel made good progress on the playhouse/shed
~Liv decided to potty train herself this week and has been making it to the potty to pee 90% of the time on her own for pee-pee (the other has a much lower success rate;)
~Weight Watchers and exercise are both going well, I've found a number of recipes that make me feel like I am getting a treat but are low points (like a chocolate banana frosty!)
~Our local farmer's market opened and I got two huge cabbages, chard and beautiful broccoli for this week. Martin's Market score: 10lbs of marked-down bananas (great since we eat at least 5 a day around here!) I did most of our other shopping @ Costco...sweet potatoes, potatoes, organic carrots, bananas, coffee
Here's a picture of our new suburban in case anyone was wondering what we got instead of our trusty Honda:
That's about it! (PS, that's really our suburban, my dad just took a really nice picture of it at Icicle)
Friday, June 17, 2011
West African Sweet Potato Soup
This recipe comes from Owlhaven, and since as most of you know we'll be moving to West Africa in the next couple years I thought it would be appropriate to share here! I just finished my second bowl after making it for lunch today...it was yummy, easy and healthy (as well as vegan and gluten free:)!
Here is the link to the recipe @ Owlhaven and a picture of the deliciousness!
West African Sweet Potato Soup
Here is the link to the recipe @ Owlhaven and a picture of the deliciousness!
West African Sweet Potato Soup
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Shopping for the week and Weight Watchers progress
Though I am still clipping coupons and bargain shopping, grocery shopping while on a diet is a whole different animal. My diet is heavy on produce and lean protein, and while bargains are out there, they are much harder to come by than those on snack foods, pasta, juice, cereal and the like. Cooking for the 6 of us (my family minus Louis plus my parents) is a challenge these days!
The list of things that will please all of us at the same time is short. Even breakfast which should be easy is a challenge when all of a sudden the toddlers are not satisfied with their favorite oatmeal or cereal and want what mommy is having (whole wheat toast with two eggs)! If I wasn't nursing I could just add some extra produce and eat smaller portions of what everyone else is eating, but nursing makes my appetite like a lumberjack's:). I have to be careful to eat things that are the biggest bang for my buck nutritionally and filling-wise while still being lower calorie (hence the produce, lean proteins and a small amount of whole grain). I try to budget points for some dark chocolate and a low sugar iced latte every day so I don't feel deprived. Its working pretty well overall. Its the cooking for everyone else that is tough! But I love to grocery shop and cook so it is worth the effort. At last weigh-in I was down 5 lbs total (22 more to go until my personal goal) which is fairly encouraging. I finally had to admit it was just going to be harder to lose weight with baby #3 than with #1. I saw a quote on the WW boards this week that I loved: "losing weight is hard. Being fat is hard. Pick your hard". So true! Having less energy, clothes that don't fit right, etc. are all hard. And losing weight is hard too, but worth it if for the right reason.
Anyway...here's what I bought last week: Walgreens-highlights: Fusion Proglide razor for $0.89, Colgate toothbrush $0.25, Garnier Herbashine haircolor $1.99, Crunch bars about $0.15 each after coupons!
Albertson's: $10.11 after coupons (used $20 from buying $100 in giftcards we'd use anyway!) plus $5 off coupon from signing up for Albies' mailing list. I bought two $11 packages of meat (skinless boneless chicken and hamburger) that were on sale since I am using more of it with WW. Canned veggies for $0.50, pineapple $1.23 after coupons, Gulden mustard $0.65, Claussen pickles (love!) for $0.99 each after promo and $2 facebook coupon, turkey bacon $0.74, Coke Zero $0.50 each, candy bars free, La Victoria chilis (for White chicken chili) $0.69 after $2 coupon. Sadly, the double coupons were GONE when I got there. I found the last Seattle Times though so I had 3 whole double coupons so I bought a lot less than I planned. But it worked out okay, I was pretty tired and so was my shopping buddy, Louis by that time!
The list of things that will please all of us at the same time is short. Even breakfast which should be easy is a challenge when all of a sudden the toddlers are not satisfied with their favorite oatmeal or cereal and want what mommy is having (whole wheat toast with two eggs)! If I wasn't nursing I could just add some extra produce and eat smaller portions of what everyone else is eating, but nursing makes my appetite like a lumberjack's:). I have to be careful to eat things that are the biggest bang for my buck nutritionally and filling-wise while still being lower calorie (hence the produce, lean proteins and a small amount of whole grain). I try to budget points for some dark chocolate and a low sugar iced latte every day so I don't feel deprived. Its working pretty well overall. Its the cooking for everyone else that is tough! But I love to grocery shop and cook so it is worth the effort. At last weigh-in I was down 5 lbs total (22 more to go until my personal goal) which is fairly encouraging. I finally had to admit it was just going to be harder to lose weight with baby #3 than with #1. I saw a quote on the WW boards this week that I loved: "losing weight is hard. Being fat is hard. Pick your hard". So true! Having less energy, clothes that don't fit right, etc. are all hard. And losing weight is hard too, but worth it if for the right reason.
Anyway...here's what I bought last week: Walgreens-highlights: Fusion Proglide razor for $0.89, Colgate toothbrush $0.25, Garnier Herbashine haircolor $1.99, Crunch bars about $0.15 each after coupons!
Albertson's: $10.11 after coupons (used $20 from buying $100 in giftcards we'd use anyway!) plus $5 off coupon from signing up for Albies' mailing list. I bought two $11 packages of meat (skinless boneless chicken and hamburger) that were on sale since I am using more of it with WW. Canned veggies for $0.50, pineapple $1.23 after coupons, Gulden mustard $0.65, Claussen pickles (love!) for $0.99 each after promo and $2 facebook coupon, turkey bacon $0.74, Coke Zero $0.50 each, candy bars free, La Victoria chilis (for White chicken chili) $0.69 after $2 coupon. Sadly, the double coupons were GONE when I got there. I found the last Seattle Times though so I had 3 whole double coupons so I bought a lot less than I planned. But it worked out okay, I was pretty tired and so was my shopping buddy, Louis by that time!
Monday, June 13, 2011
Who's doin' all the work around here anyway?
My dad and Daniel are building a delux treehouse shed in my parents' yard overlooking the river. Gotta get it done before we leave for France!!
This picture makes me giggle (someone is working my dad a little too hard:)
These two do all the REAL work around here:
This picture makes me giggle (someone is working my dad a little too hard:)
These two do all the REAL work around here:
Menu plan for the week of June 13th, 2011
Finally made some more progress in the weight loss department this week and the constant "might starve to death" feeling has mostly gone away. This is encouraging:). Having trouble coming up with healthy(meaning low points)low cost meals everyone will like. Really I would love to have grilled food every night, but our resident griller comes home too late and that would get expensive;).
Breakfasts: cold cereal, oatmeal, toast, eggs, fruit (egg sandwich for me...whole wheat slice of bread with two "fried" eggs: filling, low points and I haven't gotten sick of it yet:)
Lunch/snacks: leftovers, hot dogs (for the girls), soup, salad (for me), green smoothies
Dinners:
Monday: Chipotle Chicken Tacos on whole wheat tortillas
Tuesday: Panda Orange Chicken with Brown Rice and stir fried veggies
Wednesday: Pasta Carbonara (using turkey bacon)
Thursday: White Bean Soup (similar to one at Friends for Weightloss), grilled cheese, or white chicken chili
Friday: BLT's, vegetable Soup
Saturday: Road Trip to Puget Sound
Sunday: Clean out the leftovers, something from the freezer
Anyone have any favorite low points recipes to share?!
Breakfasts: cold cereal, oatmeal, toast, eggs, fruit (egg sandwich for me...whole wheat slice of bread with two "fried" eggs: filling, low points and I haven't gotten sick of it yet:)
Lunch/snacks: leftovers, hot dogs (for the girls), soup, salad (for me), green smoothies
Dinners:
Monday: Chipotle Chicken Tacos on whole wheat tortillas
Tuesday: Panda Orange Chicken with Brown Rice and stir fried veggies
Wednesday: Pasta Carbonara (using turkey bacon)
Thursday: White Bean Soup (similar to one at Friends for Weightloss), grilled cheese, or white chicken chili
Friday: BLT's, vegetable Soup
Saturday: Road Trip to Puget Sound
Sunday: Clean out the leftovers, something from the freezer
Anyone have any favorite low points recipes to share?!
Friday, June 10, 2011
Homemade Ranch dressing mix
Ingredients:
~2 TBSP dried parsley
~1 tsp garlic powder
~1 tsp onion powder
~1/2 tsp italian seasoning mix or dried basil
~1/2 tsp pepper
~1 tsp kosher or sea salt (regular will do too)
Mix together and keep in sealed container and add to sour cream, mayo and/or buttermilk to taste!
~2 TBSP dried parsley
~1 tsp garlic powder
~1 tsp onion powder
~1/2 tsp italian seasoning mix or dried basil
~1/2 tsp pepper
~1 tsp kosher or sea salt (regular will do too)
Mix together and keep in sealed container and add to sour cream, mayo and/or buttermilk to taste!
Louis, 5 weeks
Yep, a keeper!
Time flies! Except at night, when Louis still isn't sleeping well:) He went to the dr. yesterday because of red spots on his torso and a temperature, but it appears to be just a virus. He weighed in at 10 lbs, 10 oz.
Time flies! Except at night, when Louis still isn't sleeping well:) He went to the dr. yesterday because of red spots on his torso and a temperature, but it appears to be just a virus. He weighed in at 10 lbs, 10 oz.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Hike up & Picnic on Icicle
Well, sort of. We had a picnic and wandered up the path a ways to take pictures, but time and newborns prevented a full blown hike.
The girls having some intense discussions:)
Uncle Jon and Auntie "Cole" with M.
The girls having some intense discussions:)
Uncle Jon and Auntie "Cole" with M.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Menu Plan for the first week of June 2011!
So far my progress with Weight Watchers has not been phenomenal like I'd hoped, 2 pounds down in a week and a half is not amazing for a start plus I am nursing and only 5 weeks postpartum so I should be losing that much each week just breastfeeding! So...hopefully this week will be better as I add more exercise. I think I need to cut back on fruit some too...unlimited fruit is great but frozen bananas are just too versatile:) So I will keep on tracking those points! Oh, I have about 25 pounds to lose.
I'd love to hear from anyone who has tips for success!
Breakfasts: cold cereal, oatmeal, toast, eggs, fruit
Lunch/snacks: leftovers, hot dogs (for the girls), soup, salad (for me), green smoothies
Dinners:
Monday: Taco Salad and Mexican Tortilla Skillet
Tuesday: Breakfast for Dinner (diced potatoes and eggs), toast, fruit and cooked carrots
Wednesday: Panda Orange Chicken with Brown Rice and stir fried veggies
Thursday: White Bean Soup (similar to one at Friends for Weightloss), grilled cheese
Friday: Spicy Buffalo Grilled Chicken and home fried potatoes (baked)
Saturday: Spaghetti and Meatballs, salad, french bread
Sunday: Clean out the leftovers, something from the freezer
Anyone have any favorite low points recipes to share?!
I'd love to hear from anyone who has tips for success!
Breakfasts: cold cereal, oatmeal, toast, eggs, fruit
Lunch/snacks: leftovers, hot dogs (for the girls), soup, salad (for me), green smoothies
Dinners:
Monday: Taco Salad and Mexican Tortilla Skillet
Tuesday: Breakfast for Dinner (diced potatoes and eggs), toast, fruit and cooked carrots
Wednesday: Panda Orange Chicken with Brown Rice and stir fried veggies
Thursday: White Bean Soup (similar to one at Friends for Weightloss), grilled cheese
Friday: Spicy Buffalo Grilled Chicken and home fried potatoes (baked)
Saturday: Spaghetti and Meatballs, salad, french bread
Sunday: Clean out the leftovers, something from the freezer
Anyone have any favorite low points recipes to share?!
Friday, June 3, 2011
Swimming fun!
We finally got some nice weather today and we were determined to take advantage! Unfortunately my favorite picture didn't show up on the computer after I loaded it, so these two will have to do.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Happy One Month Louis (yesterday:)
These are actually 2 week old pictures...I now know why they say that there are a ton of pics of #1, a good amount of #2 and then poor #3 child can barely find a baby picture! I'll try to work on that!
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