After The Husband and I got done vacuuming this afternoon, I went into the kitchen with a mission - changing it up! For MONTHS, I've been eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on whole wheat bread. I'm talking like every day since probably last summer!
We had some leftover deli turkey from yesterday (it's a rarity that we buy deli meat because it's so high in preservatives, which makes it very high in sodium), so I decided to use it up and make wraps! I came across whole-wheat tortillas last week because we were planning on making chicken enchiladas (crazy week happened and we ended up going out like almost every night.... ugh - my ATM card is hating on me right now!).
I gathered the essentials - deli turkey (low-sodium roasted Boar's Head), whole wheat wraps, lettuce, tomatoes, shredded mozzarella cheese, yellow mustard (for mine), and light Buffalo Ranch dressing (for The Husband's). Now I'm terrible at "wrapping", so ignore how messed up it looks, but here was the finished product!
Sooooo tasty! And so good for a change! I served them with baby carrots, a handful of Baked Lays Sour Cream and Onion chips, and a side of fresh fruit! Totally scrumptious and the fruit was so refreshing. I also looked at Rachael Ray's magazine while eating and got some neat recipe ideas for upcoming meals!
For now, I'm going to finish playing with Ava and Mia and then it's off to the gym for a Sunday afternoon sweat session! Matty and Ava are coming back later for dinner (BBQ chicken pizza), so if it turns out, come back tonight or tomorrow for the recipe!
Lots of love,
Lauren
Anybody out there last night watch Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss? If not, man you missed an inspirational episode. Yesterday's episode featured a young man, Ryan, who was in an accident and lost his left arm. He has always struggled with weight and at the beginning of the show, he topped the scale at 410 pounds. He was given a prosthetic arm, but due to his severe weight, he can no longer wear it. I believe his mother mentioned that it was like $130,000. Yikes! Ryan was determined to not only lose weight, but he also wanted to learn how to ride a bike. Throughout the show, Chris Powell got him on a bike (he fell multiple times), but he was so determined to learn how to successfully ride without falling off.
At one point during the episode, Ryan began to cut back too many calories and his body was suffering - he was even losing hair. When he began to lose hair, he called Chris Powell to ask if this was normal and Chris was like "Um, NO, that's not normal!". Ryan promised Chris that he would eat healthy and not skip meals, but later in the episode, his doctor did not approve him for anesthesia for his surgery because he was malnourished. Ryan explained that he didn't want to go back to where he was before and that he didn't want to mess up and be a failure. Chris Powell explained to him that he should be making a deficit of calories with exercise, not with cutting calories.
Talk about hitting close to home.
As I've shared before, I did take my weight loss to the extreme too, and had several "alarms" that I ignored at first - my nails kept breaking, my hair wasn't voluminous anymore, and I noticed my arms had become very "veiny". It took my husband having a serious conversation with me to get me to realize that I wasn't helping my body at all - in fact, I was severely hurting it. I was hooked on "My Fitness Pal" and tracked every crumb that I ate. I also was working out heavily, sometimes pulling "two-a-days". I was literally burning every calorie I ate, which, had I not been drinking coffee every morning, I would have probably fallen asleep while walking! After about a 3-month obsession with My Fitness Pal, I dropped that, but I would still calculate in my head the calories I was consuming.
I remember going for one of my wedding dress fittings and I was upset because of how protruding my collarbone had become and how I would notice my ribs sticking out when I changed clothes. I remember thinking to myself: "Isn't this what you wanted?" and I finally said "No, this is not what I wanted. What I want is to be healthy and look good!".
A little over a year later, I have eased up on being so strict. I still workout every day, but I'm not afraid to order a meal that comes with fries, or to have a bakery cookie every now and again.
Do I regret going to the extreme? Kinda. I mean, I did lose weight over several years and I did become healthier, but I could have made better choices. I now know I have the confidence that even if I have a muffin instead of a bowl of cereal, it's not the end of the world. Or if I have Subway for lunch instead of my usual PB&J, veggies, and fruit.
Life is too short to be so strict. You have to follow some basic guidelines, but do what makes you feel and look healthy. Make good choices!
Lots of love,
Lauren
Wow. I am really bad at faithfully posting! I need to get my act together, which should be easier now that I'm on summer vacation! My summer vacation actually started back on June 7th, but I've been taking quite a few workshops that will help me in my new position! Come August, I will be the Primary (1-3) Gifted Teacher at my school! I feel so lucky to have been given the opportunity to teach the accelerated learners at my school! It's going to be an interesting change of pace! I just wrapped up my sixth year of teaching and I am proud of myself for continuing to challenge myself in taking on new jobs and tasks! I think I handled all my jobs this past year with a great deal of passion as well as dedication to maintaining focus - the success of my students. All of my students made tremendous gains and I can't wait to see them again in August as I walk through the halls! I may even have some of them in my resource classroom! :) They will forever be in a special place in my heart because they were my last group of first graders!
Now that I have that off my chest, let's get into the good stuff. Dinner tonight was simply amazing! I love when I'm able to just think of a recipe off the top of my head and have it turn out successfully. Trust me, it doesn't always turn out! Ha! Tonight's dinner was Crock Pot Sweet Red Chili Beef and Broccoli, served over whole wheat egg noodles.
For some reason, I wasn't confident while I was making it, so I don't have any pictures of the work in progress. I do however have a picture of the final product....
My mom has a delicious recipe for beef tips that includes white wine, parsley, and worcestershire sauce, but The Husband and I are on a new recipe kick. I found a few recipes online, but nothing really struck my fancy. So, when we were grocery shopping today, I grabbed a bottle of Thai Kitchen's Sweet Red Chili Sauce and a jar of low-sodium soy sauce. Many of the recipes that I found called for beef broth, but I wanted something that had a thicker gravy, so I also bought some jars of Fat Free Beef Gravy.
I used Publix Greenwise Stew Meat and browned it with diced onions and red peppers and a clove of garlic. Of course, I added many shakes of crushed red pepper flakes as well as freshly ground black pepper. The meat was in pretty big chunks, but I knew after being in the crock pot for 8 hours, it would fall apart and I figured why waste the time cutting the beef! :)
While the meat was browning with the onions, peppers, and garlic, I threw the other ingredients into the crock pot and gave it a stir. I then drained the meat and poured it into the crock pot I did add a tablespoon or two of the juices in order to give it a little bit more flavor. I stirred it up and set the crock pot on low for 8 hours. Wow does it make your house smell amazing!
After the 8 hours was up, I boiled some water and cooked the egg noodles. I also steamed some broccoli to serve on top of it. Such a tasty combination! While plating it, I added a few shakes of sesame seeds to make it look pretty! :) In addition to our beef, broccoli, and egg noodles, I also made The Husband and I both salads. We eat a lot of veggies over here!
Here's the recipe!
Crock Pot Sweet Red Chili Beef and Broccoli
1 lb stew beef (I used Publix Greenwise meat because it doesn't have added hormones)
1 1/2 jars of Fat Free Beef Gravy
1 yellow onion, diced
1/4 sweet red pepper, diced
1 clove of garlic (next time I will add way more, probably 3-4 cloves)
2 TBSP Thai Kitchen's Sweet Red Chili Sauce
2 TBSP Low-Sodium Soy Sauce
lots of black pepper
dash of salt
a few shakes of crushed red pepper flakes
sesame seeds
egg noodles
broccoli
salad with veggies
1.Add oil to pan and let it get hot. Add stew meat, diced onions, peppers, and garlic. Brown the meat, stirring occasionally to ensure that it's browning evenly.
2. In your crock pot (spray with pam), add 1 1/2 jars of fat free beef gravy, sweet red chili sauce, low-sodium soy sauce, red pepper flakes, black pepper, and salt. Stir it so the flavors get to know each other!
3. Drain the beef, onions, and peppers (leave about 2 tbps of the juices).
4. Add the beef, onions, and peppers to the crock pot, in addition to the juices. Stir it around - don't be shy! :)
5. Turn crock pot on low for 8 hours.
6. After 8 hours, boil up some egg noodles, steam broccoli, and make a salad!
7. Pour bee and gravy over egg noodles and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Then add your broccoli florets.
8. Enjoy! :)
Hopefully I'll be back on Tuesday with a new recipe for chicken tortilla wraps!
Enjoy your week everyone!
Lots of Love,
Lauren
Hello There!
Sorry for the delay in posting - last weekend was my birthday and I spent the entire weekend being spoiled by my amazing husband! I mean shopping spree, dinner, new pandora charm (and this was all the day BEFORE my birthday)! On Sunday, my actual birthday, he went out and bought a tasty coffee cake for breakfast and I also opened up my present, which was a new camera! I had an idea that's what it was, because when we were at the Pandora store on Saturday, he picked out the camera charm.... so I put two and two together! We also went to the Rays game where we killed the Yankees! Go Rays! It was pretty fabulous! XOXO! I'm such a lucky girl!
Anyways, back to why I'm writing this post - a new winning recipe! The husband and I are kinda getting sick of our rotation of typical foods - chicken meatloaf, grilled chicken sausages with peppers and onions, baked chicken over greens, turkey tacos, etc... So, when he mentioned that he wanted pork, I thought YES! A PORK TENDERLOIN!
While at Publix this afternoon, I snagged a extra lean, center cut pork tenderloin from the meat department (It's actually distributed by Hormel). I bought the original flavor because all the other ones have far too much sodium. (Yep, just call me the sodium police!) Before we sat down for lunch, I decided to whip up a marinade so it could soak up all the tasty flavors. I used honey, red wine vinegar, yellow mustard, black pepper, italian seasonings, and water! It marinaded for about 5 hours and oh-my-gawwwwwd it was sooo tasty! :)
I served it with a side salad, natural applesauce with cinnamon, and a sweet potato roll. The husband also had some baby red potatoes in a buttery sauce, but the flavor of the sauce is too strong for me, so I skipped out on it. What a tasty and easy dinner!
Come back tomorrow for the recipe for this tasty and easy dinner - perfect for the busy work week! :) Right now The Husband and I are in the middle of a Lifetime movie marathon!
Lots of love,
Lauren
