Trials of a Long Haired Girl

Happy hump day and Happy Halloween !  It's been a busy week and emotional week!  I did get to try a couple of new recipes though.  I made a crockpot applesauce, which has been so tasty this week!  I also tried the 0 Point Turkey Sausage recipe.   First, the Crockpot Applesauce   is super tasty.  I will say that I had read another recipe and then couldn't find it that said not to peel the apples because it added to the sweetness.  So I didn't peel my apples, I just cored them.  I will definitely make it again.  My husband and I have both enjoyed the applesauce as part of our lunch or as snacks this week.  I am a fan of applesauce though and left it a little chunky as well. The Skinny Breakfast Sausage  recipe is flavorful.  I feel like my sausage was still a little dry even though I cooked it in water.  I think next time I will prepare it and just brown it instead of making it into patties and use it in a breakfast casserole or egg muffins. I hope everyone has a fa

Happy Tuesday friends!  I hope everyone is having a great day!  28 years ago today, I was preparing to give birth to my 6 lb 14 oz baby boy.  Happy, happy birthday, Jarrod!  I can't believe it's been 28 years already!  I love you very much! Okay, we're going to get really transparent right now.  I had a really bad food day on Sunday.  Well, Saturday wasn't a great food day either.  Monday was the anniversary of my mother's passing.  It is not easy to lose someone so special in your life, but we are not promised tomorrow.  I am blessed that I had such a wonderful relationship with my Mom.  The thing that is different about this time around is that I know that I am not going to be perfect everyday for the rest of my life.  I am more accepting of myself and my imperfections. I know every weigh in is not going to be down, even though that is my goal.  I'm finding ways to cook for my family and myself without going crazy.  When you are having an emotional day or

Happy Monday!  After a horrible weekend of eating, I really needed to get a handle on my eating. I prepared a basic egg muffin cup and some turkey sausage to have for this week for breakfast.  Today's lunch is a Caesar Salad.  I added some spinach to it.  The thing I love about WW is that I can have things like that, I just weigh and measure my "extras".   Dinner for this week include: beans and cornbread slow cooker cauliflower potato soup fried chicken made in the air fryer with some Brussels Sprouts chicken pot pie  fettuccine alfredo/garlic bread/salad pulled pork and root vegetable medley Having a plan in place always make things so much better!  I also bought some little snack boxes, which seem to be big enough to put things together for my daughter's lunch.  I made homemade applesauce that, even warm, was so tasty!  I feel more positive going into this week, especially after this weekend!  I overate this weekend in ways that I have not in some ti

Happy Friday friends!  Wednesday night for dinner I decided to make an easy (I mean super, super easy) chicken and dumplings.  We've had some cooler weather so I thought it'd be quick and easy before heading to church.  It really hit the spot!  We had no leftovers to speak of so I call it a hit.  I used boxed chicken stock, a can of Annie's biscuits and canned chicken.  We ended up adding a carrot and some rosemary.  It wasn't the same as my Nanny's, but it really hit the spot.  What I will say though is that when I took that first bite, I was transported back in time to my Nanny's kitchen when I was a little girl.  Smelling clothes drying on the line also reminds me of my Nanny.   Has anyone else noticed that certain foods or smells just take you back to another time or place or that they instantly make you think of someone?   Beans and cornbread, especially pinto beans, send me right back to Mom's house.   This garlic spread reminds me of my Mem

Happy Friday eve friends!  I hope everyone is having a great week thus far!  Watching one of the YouTubers that I follow brought something up that I've been thinking about a lot.  As I've mentioned before, I've been on this weight loss journey for a bit.  I sometimes get frustrated and go off plan, but I really think that a lot of it has to do with the fact that I had a "diet" mentality.  It was more about "let's get this weight off" mode and do whatever it takes to get me there.  I ate the fat free and sugar free foods without any regard to what that might do to my body.  I never stopped to think what they might be putting in there to substitute for the lack of fat or lack of sugar.  For me, the sugar free part was one of the first things to go.  My Mom had a major reaction to Splenda (a/k/a Sucralose).  She broke out in what can only really be described as big hives.  She could barely wear clothes during that time because it was so painful.  Afte

I thought I'd take some time today to share my meals for Tuesday, October 23rd.   For breakfast, I decided to have egg muffins.  One of the YouTubers that I follow made a Denver Omelet inspired breakfast casserole, but I decided I'd prefer to make sure I have some built in portion control.  I put everything in the recipe tracker, but honestly, the portions didn't turn out entirely correct when I actually made the recipe, but I didn't adjust the tracker.  In my mind, it was better for me to over-estimate the points than underestimate the points.  I think when I make them again, I will do the milk, then egg and then any toppings last.  Breakfast Total was 3 Freestyle SmartPoints. Lunch was a homemade lunchable.  I cut up (not real well as you can tell from the picture) 3 slices of Hormel Naturals Oven Roasted Turkey Breast, 1 serving of hummus, 1 serving of Pita Chips and grape tomatoes.  For future reference, I think I should package my crackers/chips separately

Happy Tuesday, friends!  One part of this journey is learning how to live life without feeling like you are deprived.  We had a wonderful event yesterday with much food!  I could not eat everything and found it difficult to track everything because there wasn't really anything that appeared to be the same.  I did the best I could.  I am a work in progress.  My sweet husband bought an air fryer so that we could make Poutine for an event at church.  Why Poutine?  He's from Canada and our event yesterday was for All Nations Sunday.  I got a suggestion from my mother-in-law for a dessert bar, which was really good.  I made  nanaimo bars  as a second option for our potluck with church.  They turned out well and were enjoyed by many of my church family.   Here is something that I've figured out for myself.  I can go really hard with this plan, working out daily or multiple times per day, eating fat free or the zero point foods, I could be so much closer to goal in just a matt

Happy Monday friends!  I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! Me?  I felt like I made some accomplishments.  We got our kitchen cleaned out and organized in a way that I think we be better for us in the long run!  I am super excited about it.  I have made overnight oats for a couple of days, as well as a Denver Omelet inspired breakfast casserole that I am sharing with my family.  I also made some sausage biscuits as well.  Now to the real point of this blog, meal planning for the week: Dinners for the week include: Chicken Fajitas with homemade refried beans. Cheeseburger and Tot casserole with green beans Fried Chicken (this is a new recipe for me and will be made in the air fryer) with unspecified sides, but likely steamed broccoli. Easy Chicken and Dumplings (this one is super easy and quick.  Hoping it turns out to taste as well as it sounds.)   Beans and cornbread (probably not pinto beans this week) Fettuccine Alfredo (probably over spaghetti squash for me), salad a

Happy Friday!  I hope everyone is having a great week!  Mine has not been the best, but I've been trying to stick with my meal plan and focusing on getting my blue dot, my steps and my water in.  Going into next week, I feel like I need to focus on my meal prepping for myself and for my family.  I know it helps when I have a plan in place and I can do a few things ahead of time to make that happen.  I have been inspired by some of the vloggers that I follow on YouTube to give myself a time period (i.e. 90 minutes) to see what I can get done cooking, chopping vegetables, etc.  I really think this will help me.  I think I often get overwhelmed with all the things that I want to do that I wind up just throwing my hands up in the air and giving up!  That doesn't serve anyone's purpose and certainly doesn't put food on my table.  It also can leave me scrambling for the week.  This week, with a little help from my sweet husband and my oldest son, I managed to get dinners re

Happy Thursday a/k/a Friday eve! I hope everyone has had a fantastic week!  My week was full of many things, including celebrating one of my bosses' birthday.  We have now sort of made a tradition of making a breakfast casserole/muffins or something edible to enjoy when we celebrate a birthday.  It reminds me how blessed I am to work at a place where we enjoy each other's company and are small enough to celebrate together.  We have a great crew that supports each other when the tough things happen.  This was abundantly clear when I was going through multiple hospital visits with my Mom, surgeries, and then ultimately losing her.  I cannot begin to express thanks enough that the door was opened here for me when I needed it.  I am a firm believer that God opens doors and places you where He needs you to be and I'm thankful that I am here.   Honestly, my work crew is more like a part of the family and that is a blessing. 

Happy hump day!  I do hope that everyone is having a good week!  I had been wanting to try this recipe for a couple of weeks now.  I had some spaghetti squash that I needed to use up and this was the PERFECT recipe to help me do that!  I don't often have spaghetti squash in the house, but I bought a couple knowing that my son is allergic to zucchini so zoodles are not an option.  I have included spaghetti squash in veggie soups to bulk it up and have used it in place of spaghetti noodles when we are having marinara.  I actually did this on the stove last night instead of using my crockpot because I was not feeling well on Sunday and didn't have time to prepare my veggies ahead of time.   Things I changed from this recipe, we actually used more carrots than it showed in the recipe.  I also used two full containers of low sodium chicken broth.  I did not use the individual seasoning but used Italian seasoning instead and did not use the bay leaves because I simply forgot.  I

For those of us that have been on this journey for a minute, we know it's not always easy to stay motivated to continue.  Given my second gain in as many weeks, I decided that it might be a good time to share our non-scale victories (NSV) and/or perhaps our "why".   Non-scale victories for me: I have had Blue Dots 12 out of the last 14 days.  I have hit my step goal for 9 days. Other than the days I've been under the weather and only drinking Ginger Ale, I've hit my water goal of 64 oz.  Other things, I've meal planned or have come up with ideas that stay within my Daily Points.   As for my "why", I want to feel comfortable in my own skin.  I want to be able to get up the mountain by myself.  I did when we were in Colorado last, but I want to make sure I can continue that trend.  I may be slow, but I made it by myself.  Also, I made a promise to my kids that I would take care of myself.  It seems so easy to get caught up in things and put my

Hi all!  Sorry that this is going up late, but I was under the weather yesterday.  Last week was a bit of a rough week.  I did not have an opportunity to prepare what I had planned last week, or this weekend, actually.  I do have a few ideas rolling around in my head though for meals for this week.  So far, I have the following thoughts given our change in temperature this week: 1. Chicken Noodle-less soup.  My plan is to use spaghetti squash instead of spaghetti noodles, but I may make spaghetti noodles for some of my family.   I am thinking the leftovers of this will also make a tasty lunch for a few days as well. 2. Beans and special cornbread.  A family favorite in our house.  The recipe I use for my cornbread is a variation of my Mom's recipe.  The short version of this recipe is that I use ground beef, a recipe for cornbread from scratch and some cheese.  This is so good that we tend to eat the cornbread by itself.   3. Breakfast for dinner.  I will likely make a &quo

Wow! Wednesday again already!  So last Thursday because my younger son was coming home from college for dinner, I decided to try a new recipe for stroganoff since my family enjoys it so much!  This recipe is so easy and so flavorful!  I found this recipe  on Pinterest and decided it'd be a good one to try.  I am feeding 5 people and this recipe says it serves 8.  Thanks to my oldest son for assisting, he browned and seasoned the beef for me ahead of time.  I added a tablespoon of minced garlic and about half an onion when I was reheating the beef.  I did not use the butter, but it still tastes amazing.  I also did not use the mushrooms because we have an allergy to them in the house.  I was absolutely amazed at how easy this recipe was.  I also used wheat egg noodles, but I don't normally taste a difference.  I definitely see this being made again.  While I know there are things that I could do to make this lower in calories or SmartPoints, but I really prefer not to use fa

Happy Monday friends.  Sorry this is late being posted, but it was a crazy weekend.  I don't want to go into details, but if you pray, please keep my family in prayer.  Sadly, however, my crazy weekend means I didn't get to prepare any of the things I planned yet for the week.  This does not mean that I'm giving up on my goals for the week, it just means I have to make adjustments and get some things prepared at a different pace than I normally would.   I did weigh on Saturday before the craziness began.  I gained 1.2 pounds this week.  Am I upset about this gain?  Honestly, no, while I did get a Blue Dot everyday since Sunday, I did have more processed foods than I normally do, which included a can of Cream of Potato on two different nights.  I guess I should try to plan for that not to happen that way again or have them not on consecutive nights.  I am proud of my Non-Scale Victories last week.  I'm striving to make this a good week as well.  One step at a time,

Happy Friday friends!  I hope that everyone is having a good week so far.  As I stated earlier in the week, I joined a challenge last week to get my steps in, get a Blue Dot and drinking my water.  I had an odd situation arise on Wednesday.  This is truly one I have never really experienced quite like this before.  I was craving fried foods and by craving, I mean I could seriously taste it.  I have not experienced that before.  I am proud to say, however, I stuck to my planned lunch and dinner and did not give in to my fried food craving. This is a week, so far, that I am proud of, no matter what the scale may say.   I am sure many of you have heard that WW is re-branding and making some changes.  I am not normally a fan of change, but I honestly think that these changes will ultimately be great for all of us following the plan.  Removing the artificial sweeteners, colors, flavoring and preservatives by January 2019 is something I am truly excited about.  I cannot have the artifi

This week I tried a new recipe.  I don't know about you, but as Fall weather is fast approaching and we've actually had some days that were not 99 degrees here in Texas.  I decided it's time to start making some soups/stews/chili.  I made a turkey chili a couple of weeks ago, but I think it may need some tweaking for my family.  I am a fan (and by fan I mean I LOVE) potato soup.  Being a WW member, potato soup can often come with a heavy SmartPoints "price tag".  I found a recipe for a creamy cauliflower potato soup , which after plugging it into the Recipe Builder using the ingredients that I used in the amounts I used, only turned out to be 4 SmartPoints.  This soup smelled absolutely amazing.  It could be creamier, but it had a really good flavor and definitely was worth it for me.  I did change a few things up for my first batch though.  I used Vegetable Stock/Broth and increased the minced garlic to 2 tsp.  In my house, we're big fans of garlic.  I am s

I know it's been a minute since I've been here and I really need to get myself back into a better routine.  I've been dealing with some personal health issues.  I will say this, I am not a fan of doctors that do not listen.  I will be calling another doctor to see if I can find one who does listen.  I will say that the last few weeks have been a struggle to move because the medication made me feel horrible.  I did join a challenge last Monday, which I did pretty well at until Friday when I got sick.  I am trying to string more good days together where I hit my "challenge" goals.  While it may not seem like a huge deal, it's a start to move in the right direction.  Currently I'm working towards getting a blue dot (this may only mean something to those of you on WW), hitting 5,000 steps per day and getting in at least 64 oz. of water everyday for 6 weeks.  I normally do at least two out of three of these during the week, no problem, but the weekends are