Trials of a Long Haired Girl

Happy Hump Day friends!  I am back for another edition of What's Cookin Wednesday!  Some day I will figure out how to make my kitchen more recording friendly, but right now, I'm just trying to figure it out.  I actually picked out a couple of recipes that I wanted to try.  We're expecting some cold weather around my area, which I'm sure some of my northern friends would laugh about, but it's cold to me.  The first one I decided to try was the Skinny Chicken Fajita Soup .  Sometimes I really just feel like recipes are a suggestion that worked for someone else and might work for you.  I definitely tweaked it a little bit for our family.  Honestly, my chicken wasn't cooked so I decided I'd just use my canned chicken.  Here's what I did: 2 - 5 oz. cans of chicken breast 2 - 10 oz. cans of Rotel Tomatoes 1 - 15 oz. can of Black Beans 1 - 32 oz. container of chicken stock A couple of shakes of taco seasoning because it was handy and I did...

Happy Monday friends!  I hope everyone had a great weekend!  Ours was busy but good!  DD performed at our "Santa's Village" in our city.  Saturday, my sweet husband took me to see It's a Wonderful Life on the big screen!  It's not his favorite movie, but he knows how much I love it.  Then a get together with my church family and church today to watch our kids perform.   Breakfast:  Likely another breakfast casserole like last week because it really was good.  I am in debate about making the 2 ingredient dough, just a small batch and using that in place of the biscuits, but haven't decided yet since I'm not feeling 100% today.  It may be easier just to use the biscuits this time.  Lunches this week: Chicken Fajita Soup, I may do a cook with me, but haven't decided yet since this is a first time recipe. Egg Roll Soup, I also may do a cook with me on this one, but again, new recipe. Dinners this week: Macaroni and Ch...

Happy Thursday a/k/a Friday eve friends!  As some of you may be aware, I follow WW and they have recently released the MyWW plans.  These plans consist of Green, Blue and Purple.  My choice may not be the same for everyone, but my hope is that no matter what journey that you choose that you will find something that works for you.  One plan does not necessarily fit all.   MyWW Green Plan, you get 30 Daily Points, but everything has a points value other than the 100 fruits and vegetables on the 0 Points food list. MyWW Blue is basically Freestyle another another name.  You get 23 Daily Points and 200 different foods on the 0 Points food list. MyWW Purple is what I choose and is more similar to Simply Filling than Freestyle in that you don't have to track up to 300 different foods that are on the 0 Points food list and you get 16 Daily Points.   Here's my take on it.  Each of the programs work and have worked for me personally, so...

Happy Wednesday a/k/a Hump Day friends!  It seems most of the folks on my social media are also experiencing cold weather.  My part of Texas is currently in the 20's at night.  I am not a big cold weather fan, but I have to say that one of my favorite things when the weather is cold...and this goes back to me being a little girl...is a nice cup of hot chocolate.  So, here is my dilemma, as many of you know, I don't eat much in the way of sugar substitutes.  Swiss Miss Milk Chocolate packet is 4 SmartPoints per serving...whaa??  Yep, 4 SP per serving.  I could have 4 and that would eat up my daily points on the MyWW Purple plan but would I really want to use ALL my SmartPoint allotment on hot chocolate?  Um, let me think about it, no.  So I have been on the hunt for something that would give me that hot chocolate fix without breaking my SmartPoint bank.  I found this low carb hot chocolate recipe  and thought it might work.  O...

Happy hump day friends!  We've made it to another one!  So I actually made this a couple of weeks ago and again this week, but it was so good so I wanted to share!  As I have said, my daughter has decided to go meatless, so some of my all time favorites are not longer options right now.  I know, I know, I could make more than one meal, but I don't want to do that.  So, I found a recipe for a  Crockpot Vegetarian Pasta e Fagioli Soup .  I used some substitutions because I was focusing on what I had on hand.   Here's the ingredients she has listed: Ingredients 3 large carrots peeled & sliced 3 sticks celery chopped 1/2 medium onion chopped 4 cloves garlic minced 1 (28 fluid ounce) can diced tomatoes with juices 1 (19 fluid ounce) can white beans drained 1 (19 fluid ounce) can red kidney beans drained 4 cups vegetable broth 5 dashes Italian seasoning 1.5 cups ditali or ditalini pasta  Salt & pepper to taste ...

Happy Monday friends!  I hope everyone had a great weekend!  It was my 30 year class reunion this weekend so I got to see some people I haven't seen in years.  Last week was a bit of a rough week food-wise, but we made it through and I had a loss on the official scale!  I think it's a number I've seen before, but it's still going in the right direction.  Okay, let's get into it.  Meals for this week are: Breakfasts: waffle sticks using my new Pampered Chef pan and probably a breakfast casserole for me.  Lunches:  Combination of salads, Lentil Tortilla Soup, Bean and Cheese Quesadillas and Bean and Cheese Rolled tacos a/k/a taquitos. Dinners: Tomato Soup and grilled cheese; Vegetarian pasta e fagioli soup ; Roasted Veggies and Macaroni and Cheese; Vegetable fried rice; and  Vegetable Lasagna. I am excited about this week and looking forward seeing how I can improve this week.  I had 4 days of blue dot days, walked more ...

Well, hello, and happy Wednesday a/k/a Hump day!  This has been a busy weekend and a weekend of trying new things.  As I may have mentioned, I am trying to focus on some lower carb options.  I found a recipe for cauliflower hash browns and decided I would try to make them as an additional to breakfast casserole.  Unfortunately I didn't have 2 packages of cauliflower rice so I decided to halve the recipe.   Here's what I did:   I used my one smaller package of cauliflower rice (10 oz. package), 1 cup of the Simple Truth Organic Cheddar and 1 egg and I added some salt, pepper and garlic powder.   They were a little more eggy than I would have preferred but I didn't have the same amount of cauliflower that she had.  They are really tasty and made a good addition to my breakfast casserole.  I'm looking forward to having them this week.  Did you try any new recipes this week?  Maybe any of the recipes I've shared?...

Happy Thursday a/k/a Friday eve! My thoughts today are on the fact that I just celebrated 10 years of marriage with my sweet husband. I am not sure I could be more blessed than I am with this man who supports me and loves me. We have been through so much during our time together, including moving my Mom in with us and then losing her. Being with me after my son’s multiple hospitalizations for various things. Let me tell you that I honestly don’t think I  could have done or handled all of that without him. He has been my rock. There is no one that I  would rather do life with than my sweet husband. Even though he really doesn’t need to lose weight, he has been so sweet as to support me when I  buckle down to get control of my health/weight loss. He eats what I cook, without complaint.   No fat, low fat, full fat, vegetarian, Southern cooking, he eats it all. He gets up early to go walk  with me. I know not every man would do that, but he does.  ...

Happy Thursday a/k/a Friday eve friends!   I apologize for not posting much this week.   I had planned to make time to post, but I haven’t been feeling 100% this week.   The CPAP machine seems to be keeping me up nights.   I’m sure at some point I’ll adjust, but at this point, it just makes me tired.   I received an email from my provider/maker of my machine that said 81% of people who use a CPAP for more than 7 hours a night have less daytime sleepiness after 3 months.   I’ve just got to make it to that point.   The next few weeks are going to be a little harder for me to meal plan, but I’m going to try for sure to stay on plan.   It’ll be a challenge, but hopefully one I’m up for!     

Happy Monday friends!   So many things we didn't use last week and need to make this week, but a lot of it I can prepare meat on the side and put it into only part.   We had a "family meeting" to discuss with my daughter the fact that I need to be able to cook some meat.   As she has made this decision to go meatless, I just really wanted to discuss with her before just fixing meat.   I told my husband that I will likely make it and freeze it in smaller amounts so we could pull it out if we want to use it for something.   Our plan for meals this week will look a little like this: -         Smothered bean burritos -         Roasted veggie bowl with quinoa -         Spaghetti and zero point marinara and salad -         Taco Salad -         Macaroni and cheese and veggies - ...

Happy Friday friends!   How has your week gone?   Mine?   Overall, I think pretty well.   I feel like I’m making some good choices and focusing on eating within my SmartPoints and focusing on the lower carb options.   I am not sure I will have an opportunity to weigh in on the official scale this week but we’ll see what I can work out.   I am feeling very positive about what’s going on with me.   I was reminded Thursday morning of how much more accountable I feel when my husband and I are working out together.   I was really struggling to get out of bed and my sweet husband said “aren’t we going for a walk?”   UGH, I really just wanted to stay in bed and we got a later start, but walk we did.   Honestly, some days are easier than others.   At the beginning of July, I was super motivated.   Then with the back troubles, not sleeping, etc. I felt a little overwhelmed by life getting in the way.   Here’s the thing, I refu...

Happy Tuesday!  Today's Tuesday talk is a topic that I know I have struggled with for many years and it is such a great reminder for me - Body Confidence.  Yep, I said it.  I have absolutely struggled and can remember calling myself fat for years.  Here's the thing, when I was calling myself "fat", I was smaller than I am currently.  It wasn't until I originally started WW before my DH and I even started dating that I really realized that I needed to change the way I talked to myself.  I am blessed to have some fantastic people in my life who remind me that I am unique and I need to be thankful for the "me" that God created.  I try hard to focus on the more positive self talk.  There are some parts of my body that I'm not entirely happy with, but I am focusing on things that I can do.  I wish my arms were in better shape...as I was moving my arms last night and noticed that my arms were waving back, I was not entirely happy about that....

Happy Monday friends!  I feel a little bit like a kid in a candy store this week with my daughter gone.  I'm not trying to come up with meatless meals that we can have all week.  With that in mind, the menu for this week may change without notice.  The plan thus far: - Hamburgers and fries/tater tots - Chicken Fajitas/refried beans and rice (not sure if this will be cauliflower rice or brown rice) - Hamburger Stroganoff/salad - Spaghetti with zero point marinara, chicken meatballs, salad and garlic bread - Breakfast for dinner The end of the week had me a little out of sorts.  I had my appointment with the medical company delivering my CPAP machine.  I started on Thursday night and I can tell you it's a bit of an adjustment as I've never really slept with one before.  This year I am determined to take care of me and this is all part of it.  Also, because of my tiredness and back pain, I didn't stick very well with the challenge this week...

Happy Thursday a/k/a Friday eve, friends!   Hope everyone has had a great week so far!   I was reminded earlier this week just how important it was for me that I roasted those veggies over the weekend.   We had a very rough night dealing with insomnia.   If you have never dealt with insomnia, be grateful!   Quite honestly, if I hadn’t prepared some roasted veggies and had some chicken that I had purchased pre-cooked, I likely would have ordered out on Tuesday.   If I’d ordered out, it most likely wouldn’t have been on plan.   I have really been trying to stay on plan so the fact I did some prep saved me time on the back-end, not to mention calories!   I think we can all agree that there are times, like when we are tired, that we would be more likely to go with whatever is convenient.   For the coming week, I will be trying to focus on using the items in my freezer.   Do you do that periodically?   If you do, how often do you...

Happy Hump Day friends!   We made it to the middle of the week!   I tried a new recipe this week and it was delicious!   I made something that I would have never tried to make years ago…I made eggplant parmesan.   It was baked so a little healthier.   As always, I thought I had all my ingredients and I hadn't really used my panko in a while and I didn't have quite enough.   We made it work by crushing some garlic croutons.   I feel good about how it turned out though and we're excited to have it again.   I used this recipe from Delish.   I did substitute the Trader Joe's Lite Mozzarella and I tried not to overdo it with the cheese.   It turned out to be 8 Freestyle SmartPoints.  I served mine with grated zucchini.  My son, who is allergic to zucchini, had his with spaghetti squash and my husband and daughter has rotini because  I didn't realize I was out of spaghetti.  Hopefully you will get it a try if you like ...

Happy Tuesday friends!   How's your week going?   For this week's Tuesday Talk, let's talk about Fats.   I don't cook with a ton of oil, I do like to spray my veggies with olive or avocado oil before I roast them.   There's so many great options for adding some healthy fats into our diets.   I love to add a little avocado to my smoothies or to my veggies bowls.   I also love adding some sliced olives to my salads.   I also love to snack on some nuts, although, those can add up calories and points-wise.   I know that fats got a bad wrap for years.   Flashback to Susan Powter and the low-fat craze in the 90's.   Although, let's be honest, she wasn't completely on the wrong track when she said "read the labels, read the labels"!   Those are some great things that we should all take to heart even now.   Fats can be such a confusing topic and I can't honestly say that I'm 100% on top of it, but I am a firm believer in everything...

Happy Monday friends!  How was everyone's weekend?  I am so excited for this week.  I feel like I've set myself up for success.  Breakfast options this week, eggs and smoothie bowls.  Lunches will be veggies and chicken and salads.  I have lots of roasted veggies so I'm excited about this week.  Dinner plans for this week: • Veggie Bowls with quinoa; • Smothered Bean Burritos; • Cauliflower Tikka Masala; • Salad (originally taco salad, but I forgot to get Catalina Dressing); and • Pizza Bubble Up casserole.   Last week's meals were: Monday - Fettuccine Alfredo (I used spaghetti squash), Caesar salad and garlic bread; Tuesday - Macaroni and Cheese (From a box); Wednesday - Subway; Thursday - Burger and fries (in the air fryer); Friday - Pizza from Pappa John's. Saturday - Eggplant Parmesan (I had mine with zoodles) and salad. 

Happy Sunday morning friends!  I hope everyone had a fantastic Saturday!  I woke up super early on Saturday morning, but decided to take advantage of it.  I went to weigh-in and then my sweet husband and I enjoyed breakfast together.  I am down a pound this week.  While it might not be as much as I might have wanted, but I'm preparing for success this week.  I decided that while Sprouts had organic cherries on sale, I'd go early to make sure I got some.  I also got lucky and found some organic Brussels sprouts for roasting.  I also got some romaine lettuce for salads for this week.  I also made a Trader Joe's run and purchased some lite cheese blends along with some spinach and Cole slaw blend.   I feel positive going into the new week.  I have to say that I really love when the creative juices start flowing.  I draw ideas from different places.  I feel like we're going to all have a good week because I've got a p...

Happy Friday friends!   I hope everyone has had a great week and is looking forward to a great weekend!   No major plans for me but hoping for some family time and some meal prep time.   I definitely want to be prepared for the coming week.   I finished my round of Prednisone on Monday and started a new allergy nose spray on Tuesday.   Hoping that it gives me some relief.   In continuing with my July challenge goals: ·          I am going to workout 3 times a week for 20 minutes; ·          Drinking 90 to 100 oz of water; ·          Focus on less processed foods and more whole foods; ·          Track my food; ·          Take 30 minutes to do something that I enjoy; and ·          Journal/Blog. For th...

Happy Wednesday a/k/a Hump Day!  We're halfway through the week.  I don't recall if I shared it or not, but on Father's Day, I opted to make a cake that popped up in my Instagram feed that seems to be a WW favorite.  It is a 2-ingredient cake using an Angel Food Cake as the base.  The one I made for Father's Day I used a can of crushed pineapple.  I really enjoyed it but it was a bit sticky.  After some searching on Pinterest, I saw multiple pins for more 2-ingredient cakes using pie filling as the second ingredient.  So, at the request of my son, I made the 2-ingredient cake using strawberry pie filling.  It got puffier than I anticipated and, if I'm honest, I didn't read the recipe that I found on Pinterest very well.  I did not realize that it made more than a dozen.   Ultimately, I wound up making 2 donut pans and a dozen cupcakes in the muffin pan.  The  recipe  I originally looked at said it would ...