MOMS CRAZY COOKING

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

SHRINKVIVOR Challenge (Week 3, Down 2.4 lbs More)

Well, it happened! I celebrated my 39th birthday this last weekend! One year ago on my 38th birthday I joined a She Rocks Boot Camp and was ready once and for all to GET-FIT! I am here to say, I've come a long way in one year, but I am not finished yet!

The number ONE thing that has happened to me this year is realizing what healthy food is and what fast food has done to my body (and my stomach)! My twin daughters (17 years old) have come along with me on this journey and I can say with out a doubt that we have learned some very valuable LIFE-LESSONS that we will take with us forever! I am so thankful for all the learning and growing we have done over this past year. And as a mother I am SO grateful that I was able to teach them these lessons before they left home.

Now on to the challenge and MY TEAM... we did AWESOME once again! The 5 of us that are left are ALL GO-GETTERS and I am so happy to be on a team with all of them! (Check out their blogs and journey's here).

BEE FIT

REAL LIFE ADVENTURES

We are into week 3 now and the scale was definitely my friend this morning and I couldn't be happier. I was less-focused on exercising this week and more focused on food choices and it paid off after last weeks low weight loss I was SO happy to see that new number this morning.

WATER - WATER - WATER.... The challenge from week 1 continues and it has become second nature and it's SO easy now to drink 6 bottles of water a day! And I can tell you that from all the things I've been doing to help me loose weight this has been key. I had one diet coke this week (my first in 3 weeks) and it tasted like pure syrup, I couldn't even finish it GROSS. (I am sure my boot camp trainer would be happy to here that!)

NO FAST FOOD: enough said. I DID IT (AGAIN)!

FRUITS & VEGGIES: I have been doing SO well with my eating all day (and as you all know this is a food blog and YES I do eat almost everything I post, with very few exceptions). You are all watching what I am eating and I am STILL loosing weight. It has to do with healthy breakfast, healthy snacks, healthy lunch and sensible dinner. I snack on carrots, apples, grapes, cucumbers, oranges, I try NO carbs all day. Lunch is turkey (NO bread) or a Salad and dinner is whatever I make (NO SECONDS, no matter how good it is). If it's that good, I save the left overs for the next day's dinner. And I eat one protein bar a day, right before my workout. And that's it....it's successful and I am loosing weight!!

The SHRINKVIVIOR CHALLENGE is a 7 week challenge and we are in week 3. I am so looking forward to the next 4 weeks and seeing where it takes me. The NEW challenge will be announced tomorrow and I can't wait to get right on it. This challenged has PUSHED ME and helped me exactly where I needed it the most, and I am forever grateful. I know the next few weeks are going to get harder and harder as I am coming onto my "plato" weight between 150-155. Every time I get down that low, I just stay there forever and ever. So, I am gonna have to push HARDER then I ever have before and be MORE DEDICATED then I ever have before. And I know I WILL GET PAST THIS... I WILL SUCCEED.

First Week’s Weight:

164.4

Today’s Weight:

157.8

this week LOSS:

2.40 lbs

Challenge

150.0

Ultimate goal weight:

139.0

TOTAL WEIGHT LOSS 6.60 lbs

the blank photo spots are for my NEW 40 YEAR OLD SELF on October 2, 2011; Wish me LUCK!!!

LIFE-TIME Goal would be to be in the 130’s, and yes I don’t even care if it’s 139. I am posting my weight here (because on The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans they say “Coming to terms with the number on the scale can aid you in your weight-loss”)

Here's to 4 more weeks to go on this ULTIMATE SHRINKVIVOR CHALLENGE!

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

BBQ Pizza

BBQ Pizza (at the birthday party). Here is another recipe from my girls birthday party! (I made so MUCH food it's taken me two weeks to get you all the recipes). This was our FIRST attempt at BBQ Pizza's and it won't be our last. It was a lot of fun and they turned out FABULOUS!!!

For this first attempt we purchased pre-made pizza dough at a local market called Fresh n' Easy. We let the dough get to room temperature and then split the dough in fourths (this way we'd have small dough for more individual sized pizza's). But actually even splitting them in fourths (they could have been shared by two people).

We made a homemade pizza sauce, but store bought could be used too. I also set out Pesto and Alfredo sauce to make a specialty pizza. We cooked up the toppings that need to be cooked ahead of time and had them all set out for the girls to create their own master piece pizza.

I had five recipes that I had cut out (yes, really five) plus the help of my good friend who had made them once before. I read all the recipes and came up with a combination of all of them together. I will be making these again soon and doing some more experimenting along the way (maybe even trying homemade dough next time). And, of course I will post all about it!

BBQ PIZZA

1. Leave dough on the counter to bring to room temperature.Toss dough with your hands until you have it at the desired size and thickness. (this is best done with dough that is not fresh out of the refrigerator. ) They don't exact come out perfectly round, but none the less they are fun fun fun!

2. Sprinkle a cookie sheet with olive oil and a little bit of spices (basil, red pepper or whatever you wish). Brush and/or Dip each pizza dough in the olive oil mixture. You will need to keep adding more after each dough depending on how many you make. (Do not add too much olive oil because they are too hard to BBQ)

3. Heat the BBQ to medium heat or lower. It may need to be turned down so that the crust does not burn while cooking. The trick here is to cook ONE side of the dough completely and then turn the dough over and cook only for a minute or two, just so that the dough is no longer sticky. (Reason being, is that after you add the topping's on the COMPLETELY done side, the UN-DONE side will be the side you lay back down on the BBQ to finish cooking and to melt the cheese)

4. Once pizza doughs are finished the assembly line can begin. (The doughs can be BBQ'd hours before a party, which will save you alot of time after your guests arrive). We layed everything out in the kitchen and gave each person a pizza dough on a cookie sheet and let them create their very own pizza masterpiece. (Remembering they need to load up the COMPLETELY DONE side of the dough, so that when they take it back to the BBQ the NOT-SO-DONE side will then be layed onto the BBQ to finish cooking.) Once they were ready they walked their pizza out to the BBQ CHEF (which in this case was me... and I am NOT the usual BBQ'er). We placed all the pizza's on the BBQ the dough finishes cooking and the toppings are hot and the cheese melts. Out comes a "PERFECT BBQ PIZZA"

Also posted at Tempt My Tummy Tuesday

Monday, October 4, 2010

Bananaberry Muffins

It's another muffin baking weekend. Muffins are my thing now a days, I try and make a NEW muffin recipe each weekend. My youngest son keeps asking for Blueberry Muffins and so I pulled out my binder and found this from Bakerella. It was the perfect blend of Banana and Blueberries mixed together (and I can tell you it's only Monday and there are ZERO left in the house). So, I take it they were a hit!

Yummy Bananaberry Muffins

found over at Bakerella

2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter, room temperature
2 eggs
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (or two medium-sized bananas)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup fresh blueberries (rinse and pat dry; we used frozen worked just fine)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line tray with muffin cup papers.
Sift flour, baking powder, salt and sugar together with a wire whisk.
Add butter, eggs, bananas and vanilla.
Mix on low until just combined.
Fold in blueberries. Reserve some to place on the tops.
Bake for about 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Bakerella is famous for her creative ideas with cake pops
(many of my friends have enjoyed these at my home at one time or another)
Her new book is AMAZING and of course I pre-ordered it and received it the day it came in print.
I am so excited for the holiday's to begin so I can bake some more YUMMY cake pops!
(click below to order your own copy of CAKE POPS from Amazon)

Also posted at from my tiny kitchen: Gold Star Wednesday Blog Party

Family Meal Planning (Week 10-4-10)

Click here to see previous week's Family Meal Planning!

Here's to another week of GREAT recipes. My entire family is LOVING this "Meal Planning". We all pick out recipes (or mostly just me) but I take requests from everyone. It has made my life SO EASY! I pick the recipes (from my book, from memory or just some ole' favorites); I make a grocery list (Sunday/Monday is my new grocery days); I post the list in the kitchen and I NEVER have to think what I am going to make and I KNOW that I have all the ingredients to make what's on my list (that IS the best part, never having to run back to the store) and spending less money (because fewer trips to the store)! This is a WIN-WIN for everyone! I would love to hear about your families "meal planning" or if you'd like to share with me and others leave a link in the comments.