So yesterday was my first day back on program and I am VERY pleased with how well it went and how easy it was! It was like the tastebuds in my mouth had been awakened after years in a coma. Just call them Rip Van Winkle. I'd forgotten how GOOD some of the things I used to eat tasted. I haven't made myself a raspberry/banana smoothie or had a clementine in I don't know how long and right now, I want to reach back and kick myself in the ass for denying myself their yumminess all this time. Thankfully, I'm not flexible enough to do that yet so will just have to make due with asking myself "what were you thinking?" This, I imagine, is depressing for the kids, who are home today due to a snowday, as I am sure the entertainment value of watching their mom try and kick her own butt, losing her balance and falling over (kind of like that skateboard incident a few years back) would be absolutely priceless!
To plug another awakening of my the tastebuds, see the recipe below this post for the new recipe I tried last night for our supper. Don't forget, that if you make it and change anything , to adjust your nutritional information.
So after yesterday's blog about me rejoining Weight Watchers and my concern about the points they now give you and now having gotten over the hump of the first day, I have to say, I now understand why they gave us all extra points. Because of the way points are calculated now, the foods you once may have enjoyed on WW for a certain points value quite possibly are NOT the same. (Sneaky buggars!) Yesterday's lunchtime crackers that I spread my laughing cow lite cheese on USED to be 4 points for the two servings of crackers, now they are 6 eek!! Something I didn't discover until late last night when I logged into their etools which you get access to FOR FREE when you buy a monthly pass. Oreo thinsations also jumped up one too (if I remember right what they used to be). Not really a big deal, but makes you have to go back and recheck everything you once knew.
Overall a great day! And I HAD to have earned activity points for all the back and forth trips to the bathroom after drinking 2 liters of water!
Thursday, January 13, 2011
BBQ Roasted Chicken with Parmesan Potatoes
From kraftcanada.com
http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/recipes/bbq-roasted-chicken-parmesan-115138.aspx
This was a new recipe I made last night for supper for us. We all really liked it. Even Mr. Picky Pants, my son! Of course he didn't like that the skins were still on the potatoes, but other than that, we all enjoyed the flavor.
Ingredients:
1 pound (450 grams) Small Red Potatoes (about 8) quartered
1/4 Kraft Extra Virgin Olive Oil Aged Balsamic Vinagrette Dressing
1 1/2 tsp Chili Powder, divided
4 small boneless, skinless chicken breast (1 pound/450 grams)
1/4 C Kraft Original BBQ sauce
2 Tbsp Kraft 100% Parmesan Light Grated Cheese
Make It:
--Heat oven to 400F
--Toss potatoes with dressing in 13X9 nonstick pan; sprinkle with 1/2 tsp chili powder. Bake 25 min.
--Stir potatoes; push to sides of pan. Place chicken in single layer in center of pan; sprinkle with remaining chili powder. Drizzle with BBQ sauce.
--Bake 20 min. or until chicken is done (170F) and potatoes are tender. Transfer chicken to platter. Stir potatoes to evenly coat with pan drippings. Spoon around chicken on platter; top potatoes with parmesan.
Nutritional Information:
See the above link
**** I tweaked this abit for our family. Using 2 pounds of regular potatoes (seriously - 1 pound of potatoes for four people? Did you see how little that was in the above picture?), I cut them up smaller then the recipe called for based on some of the recipe reviews on the kraft site. I then microwaved them on a plate for about 7 or 8 minutes. I let them cool a bit then put them in a large ziploc bag with the dressing and chili powder and let them marinate for a couple hours. I used the regular calorie-wise Balsamic Vinagrette too. I also let them cook probably about 30-35 minutes. When it came time for the chicken, I subbed Bull's Eye Old West Hickory BBQ sauce on my not-so-small chicken breasts for the BBQ sauce the recipe called for. And of course, I remembered about three hours after we ate that I forgot to add the Parmesan to the potatoes when it was all done. Oh the smell's in my kitchen!!! MMMMMMM! A definite "do again" for my family!
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Yeehaw! Giddy Up!
Well, I'm back in the saddle again. The weight-loss saddle. I've been throwing the idea around inside the far recesses of my mind for a little bit now about bucking up and going back to Weight Watchers. Finally grabbed hold of the reins and rode that pony back to my first meeting last night in I don't remember how many years. I forgot how scary it can be to make that first step through the doors on your own. In the past I have always had someone to go with, that first time, but this time, I was the Lone Ranger! Turns out though that I have a Tonto and a Silver there as I have an aunt and cousin who go to that same meeting (you guys have to fight it out amongst yourselves which of you is the horse!)
They've recently revamped their program and while I haven't really had a chance to read all my material yet to get a better understanding of the changes, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little concerned with the amount of points they now give you to eat within your day PLUS the added "extra" or "bonus" points you are allowed to use if needed for special occasions. I used to get around 25 points for the day then you had your "extra" 35 you could eat (or not, your choice) called Flex Points and if I remember correctly, the lowest (ie. those skinny wenches) got 20 base points. Now it seems to be that everyone across the board gets almost 10 points higher then add in the big jump in the "extra" ones you can use, if needed, and it seems quite scary from where I am sitting. Bonus though!! Fruit is now a 0 point item!
Motivational Quotes
If you can imagine it, you can achieve it; if you can dream it, you can become it. ~~William Arthur Ward
The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen. ~~ Frank Lloyd Wright
Happiness if where we find it, but rarely where we seek it. ~~J. Petit Senn
It was a high counsel that I once heard given to a young person, "Always do what you are afraid to do. " ~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible. ~~Arthur C. Clarke
One joy scatters a hundred griefs. ~~Chinese Proverb
There is only one person who could ever make you happy, and that person is you. ~~David Burns
It is better to fall short of a high mark than to reach a low one. ~~ H.C. Payne
Happiness grows at our own firesides, and is not to be picked in strangers' gardens. ~~ Dougals Jerrold
The great and glorious masterpiece of man is to know how to live to purpose. ~~ Michel de Montaigne
Don't bunt. Aim out of the ballpark. ~~ David Ogilvy
When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us. ~~ Helen Keller
The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen. ~~ Frank Lloyd Wright
Happiness if where we find it, but rarely where we seek it. ~~J. Petit Senn
It was a high counsel that I once heard given to a young person, "Always do what you are afraid to do. " ~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible. ~~Arthur C. Clarke
One joy scatters a hundred griefs. ~~Chinese Proverb
There is only one person who could ever make you happy, and that person is you. ~~David Burns
It is better to fall short of a high mark than to reach a low one. ~~ H.C. Payne
Happiness grows at our own firesides, and is not to be picked in strangers' gardens. ~~ Dougals Jerrold
The great and glorious masterpiece of man is to know how to live to purpose. ~~ Michel de Montaigne
Don't bunt. Aim out of the ballpark. ~~ David Ogilvy
When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us. ~~ Helen Keller
Monday, October 25, 2010
They're After Our Kids!!!
I'm pretty sure there is some secret conspiracy in the fashion world to make our already overly-criticial self-conscious teenagers feel worse about themselves then they do, oh let's say, 95% of the time, as it is! As I sit here and think about writing this, I don't even think it is just teens they are targeting, but maybe women in general. Maybe men too. Provided they have boobs!
I can remember a time in the not to distant future when I was smaller then I currenly am, (weight-wise), and what a pain in the ass it was to try on clothes cause I was pretty sure that everything they sold in the stores was constructed based on the sizes of the 8-year-olds they have sewing them in some far off distant land. It was either an 8-year-old or a card carrying member of the itty-bitty-titty committee. The frustration of having to go get a larger sized clothing item, cause you happen to have breasts, is only one that can be understood by a woman (or man with moobs) who has encountered this. This frustration can quickly turn into depression, cause even though we KNOW in our heads how distorted the views of the fashion industry is on size, we still can easily fall into the trap where we start thinking we are just to damn fat for the clothes. It's like our brains get sucked out by those damn unrealistic sized clothes and we forget how to think. As an adult woman, this was hard enough, but throw in the hormones of a teenage girl, and it seriously makes you want to throw the smackdown on some poor unsuspecting anorexic salesclerk's ass.
I can remember a time in the not to distant future when I was smaller then I currenly am, (weight-wise), and what a pain in the ass it was to try on clothes cause I was pretty sure that everything they sold in the stores was constructed based on the sizes of the 8-year-olds they have sewing them in some far off distant land. It was either an 8-year-old or a card carrying member of the itty-bitty-titty committee. The frustration of having to go get a larger sized clothing item, cause you happen to have breasts, is only one that can be understood by a woman (or man with moobs) who has encountered this. This frustration can quickly turn into depression, cause even though we KNOW in our heads how distorted the views of the fashion industry is on size, we still can easily fall into the trap where we start thinking we are just to damn fat for the clothes. It's like our brains get sucked out by those damn unrealistic sized clothes and we forget how to think. As an adult woman, this was hard enough, but throw in the hormones of a teenage girl, and it seriously makes you want to throw the smackdown on some poor unsuspecting anorexic salesclerk's ass.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Go Big or Go Home!
Can't say my hubby does anything half-assed!! He was in a car accident this morning, which I JUST found out about, everyone is fine. He's fine, his passenger is fine, front bumper's a little dented, the tourists from Massachusetts who ran the red light are fine, the passenger side of their 2008 BMW on the other hand, not so much! I wonder what made them crap themselves more, the Chev Silverado coming at them, or the fact the nice Canadian said don't worry about I'm not gonna sue you for your first born, and sent them on their way!
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Blood - A Free Pass?
This one isn't about Edward or Bella. It's not about Bill and Sookie. It's not about giving the "gift of life" by donating blood. This one is about relationships. Family ones. It isn't one written directly about relationships within my own personal family, but rather about general observations about those that have their troubles.
Quite often lately, it seems, I seem to be reading, seeing, hearing things regarding fighting/arguments/misunderstandings within families and how people need to "mend fences" or "bury the hatchet" and sort it all out cause "after all, in the end, family is all you got". If that is true, some people REALLY got screwed. Granted, sometimes things happen within a family that are silly little disagreements that could be "fixed" with a simple I'm sorry, but not everything is fixable or forgivable in a relationship, even when it comes to family relationships.
While I do think family is very important in our lives, I do not think that just cause we share the bond of blood that that should give someone permission to use and abuse another person. If we would not tolerate that behavior from Joe Blow down the street or from someone who has been our friend for twenty years, why does that behavior or treatment suddenly get a "free pass" simply cause the person may be your parent/child/aunt/uncle/brother/sister/cousin/grandparent? Does the fact you may have the same parents or grandparents mean you are required to bend over and let someone else shove their foot up your ass?
Usually when there are issues within a family they can spill over to affect others within our families. Sure it can make family get-togethers a bit awkward if you have two people together in a room who are not on speaking terms, but it is certainly more awkward when you have those two people in the room, plus the twenty others who make it more awkward by sticking their noses in and telling one or both parties how they should handle their private business, thereby causing their OWN family fights/disagreements/arguments within the family. Unless the initial issue was yours, you never really know what brought about the fight in the first place and how many things or how long it has been going on that has brought it to this point so is it not best to just love both of your fighting family members and try to remain neutral?
I imagine everyone has heard the line about forgiveness not being about the other person, it's about you and no longer holding onto your pain or anger but sometimes the only way to remove the pain and anger is to remove the source of that pain and anger from our lives. And I personally do not feel that someone who has cut ties with someone they share some genetic material with should have to apologize for doing what is right for their life. It is THEIR life. Not yours/mine. Don't they have the right to live it?
Quite often lately, it seems, I seem to be reading, seeing, hearing things regarding fighting/arguments/misunderstandings within families and how people need to "mend fences" or "bury the hatchet" and sort it all out cause "after all, in the end, family is all you got". If that is true, some people REALLY got screwed. Granted, sometimes things happen within a family that are silly little disagreements that could be "fixed" with a simple I'm sorry, but not everything is fixable or forgivable in a relationship, even when it comes to family relationships.
While I do think family is very important in our lives, I do not think that just cause we share the bond of blood that that should give someone permission to use and abuse another person. If we would not tolerate that behavior from Joe Blow down the street or from someone who has been our friend for twenty years, why does that behavior or treatment suddenly get a "free pass" simply cause the person may be your parent/child/aunt/uncle/brother/sister/cousin/grandparent? Does the fact you may have the same parents or grandparents mean you are required to bend over and let someone else shove their foot up your ass?
Usually when there are issues within a family they can spill over to affect others within our families. Sure it can make family get-togethers a bit awkward if you have two people together in a room who are not on speaking terms, but it is certainly more awkward when you have those two people in the room, plus the twenty others who make it more awkward by sticking their noses in and telling one or both parties how they should handle their private business, thereby causing their OWN family fights/disagreements/arguments within the family. Unless the initial issue was yours, you never really know what brought about the fight in the first place and how many things or how long it has been going on that has brought it to this point so is it not best to just love both of your fighting family members and try to remain neutral?
I imagine everyone has heard the line about forgiveness not being about the other person, it's about you and no longer holding onto your pain or anger but sometimes the only way to remove the pain and anger is to remove the source of that pain and anger from our lives. And I personally do not feel that someone who has cut ties with someone they share some genetic material with should have to apologize for doing what is right for their life. It is THEIR life. Not yours/mine. Don't they have the right to live it?
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