Hello everyone, can you believe June is here, where did May go? May was a good month for us, the bank did not accept our offer on the house (which is fine becasue we gave them a low offer to see what they would say) but we accepted their counter offer :) :) :)  Sometime this summer we could be in our first house :) Last week was my last body fit and zumba classes that I took through the parks and rec program :( Hubby and I decided that since I have come to love the group exercise classes it would be more cost effective to join a gym. Last weekend we became members at our local YMCA :) I have already taken two zumba classes and I look forward to trying out more classes. This is the first time that I have worked out in a gym since hubby was in the Marine Corps and I worked out on base.

Hubby and I have been having a more of a cold cereal version of the make ahead oatmeal smoothies I talked about recently.
327 calories, 26.5g carb, 2g sugar and 7.9g fiber.
1/4c old fashioned oatmeal
1c unsweetned coconut milk or almond
1T chia seeds
1T whole flax seeds
1T barleans
1/4c Trader Joe's 2% Greek style lowfat plain yogurt

I love Trader Joe's Greek Style 2% lowfat plain yogurt. It has the lowest ammount of sugar that I have found in plain greek yogurt. For one cup it has 5g sugar, 9g carb, 24g protein and 160 calories. I often just use 1/4c or 1/2c at a time for even lower sugar. And for 16 oz I paid $2.79.

I guess that is all for now, I hope eveyone is having a nice weeknd. P.S. this is my 300th post :)

Pinterest Party

Good morning everyone and Happy Hump Day :) I was glad to share the make-ahead smoothie recipe that I found on pinterest. I love having food ready so that I don't  have to worry or make a big mess in the mornings. Yesterday I instead of a smoothie I had more of a breakfast pudding. Monday night I put almond milk, chia seeds and a little oatmeal in the food processor, I added a squirt of strawberry banana barleans, and a scoop of whole flax seeds, I ate it with some redi whip and two slices of lemon coconut bread. Yum :) Hubby and I talked about adding some protein powder to the smoothies/pudding...the options for these smoothies/puddings are endless.

Last night my Bible Study girls and I had a Pinterest party, everyone brought food from recipes found on pinterest and some girls brought crafts. It was so FUN. I brought mini caprese bites that I made with mini heirloom tomatoes, basil and mozzarella all from Trader Joe's. One girl brought a bird house craft to do, another brought tissue paper to make flowers which she is making for centerpieces for a friends wedding, and another brought fabric to make flower hair clips. The night was a huge success and I hope to host my own Pinterest party when we have a house of our own.

Hello everyone, Happy Monday :) It's a beautiful rainy day up here in my neck of the woods. Thank you for the feedback on my question about allowing friends/family to read the blogs and your opinions about sharing personal information. I have decided that I am comfortable with what I share, but I will remember to be cautious in what I say.

This weekend I made some lemon coconut flour bread which delighted hubby since I haven't made it in awhile. Our local health food store Huckleberries had their quarterly sale on their natural living section, so I picked up some strawberry banana barleans and the lemon barleans for my Mom. The past several days I have been making a recipe I found on Pinterest :)  From the yummylife.com make-ahead oatmeal smoothies. It's a wonderful idea, used the recipe for strawberry banana as a starting point

make-ahead smoothies from theyummylife.com

Strawberry Banana Oatmeal Smoothie from theyummylife.com:

1/4 cup uncooked oats (old fashioned rolled oats recommended; do not use steel cut oats)

1-1/2 teaspoons dried chia seeds

3/4 cup skim milk

1/4 cup orange juice

1/4 cup low-fat yogurt (Greek yogurt recommended)

1/2 cup fresh quartered strawberries

1/2 cup fresh banana slices

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1-2 teaspoons honey, optional (or substitute preferred sweetener)

Here is what I did:
1/4c uncooked old fashioned oatmeal
2 T chia seeds
3 strawberries
3/4c unsweetened almond milk
3 fresh strawberries
a squirt of barleans strawberry banana

The options on the make ahead smoothies are endless...hubby is very happy that I have started experimenting making them. He was especially happy when he woke up late on Friday and as he was rushing out the door I handed him a smoothie and a lunch.

Hello everyone, sorry I haven't posted in awhile my mood has been much better I've just been busy with the usual stuff. The other week my Mom and I were having a discussion about my blog, she thinks I share too much personal information and it might come back and haunt me later, she also dislikes facebook and texting. (this is not a dig on my Mom in any way) Since she feels that way I have asked her to please not read my blog, she agreed not to but she thinks she should be able to because it is on the Internet and available to everyone to read. This discussion all started because back in Feb or March I said that "I had fallen off the wagon" referring to falling off the bfc wagon not referring to the alcohol wagon. So that makes me wonder how do you guys feel about sharing personal information on your blogs? And how do you feel about those close to you in your personal life reading your blog?

Lately I realized that the group dynamic is really helpful for me. I love this blogging community and I recently discovered I love taking group exercise classes. I personally think the group dynamic is a big part of why WW is so successful. The bfc/ft is successful for myself and hubby when we stick to it. I'm sure you know what I mean about that. Having chips around is just asking for trouble for us. We have decided to be extra good until the end of hubby's school quarter in the middle of June. Extra good for us means no beer for hubby or wine for me. We are not giving these things up because we have a problem, it is that we want to be extra mindful in our eating and when you cut something out for a time or cut back we have found that to be helpful.

Things are good up here in our neck of the woods, the weather has been beautiful and I love seeing the trees and flowers in bloom. We are hearing good rumblings about our house, nothing official to share yet, just things are moving in a good direction :) On Saturday I was at the mall trying to exchange some work shoes and I decided to pop into Bath & Body Works to see if they had any deals....boy howdy they had their large candles on sale 2 for 1. My hometown Spokane, WA is also known as the lilac city. There are tons of beautiful fragrant lilacs in bloom all over right now. Lilacs have a strong but lovely scent, but often when their scent is manufactured it smells terribly. The slatkin & co. candle that I bought at Bath & Body works is delicious. I also purchased a coconut candle that smells like summer. :) Have a wonderful day.



Hello everyone, sorry it's been a week since I last posted. Last week I was in a terrible mood I think it was a combination of pms and the full moon. Whatever you want to call it I was cranky pants. Anyway I want share some of the delicious things I have been making.
I made a double batch of the turkey pumpkin chili in the crock pot from skinny taste at hubby's request. Lately I have been making it with Italian turkey sausage and that adds some nice spice. We put several containers in the freezer which is perfect for hubby's lunch on days that we don't have leftovers.


Chicken stir-fry with quinoa (left) Katie's meatball broccoli quinoa delight (center) turkey pumpkin chili (right)

6g of sugar for the whole jar.

I made a delicious new dish this week that is a keeper in my book :)
"Katie's Meatball broccoli quinoa delight"
 First I made meatballs based off a recipe from allrecipes.com "meatball nirvana" This is my version:
1 lb extra lean ground beef
1 tsp. powdered garlic
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 T. worcester sauce
1/2c panko instead of bread crumbs
1/3c  unsweetened almond milk.

Preheat oven to 400, mix all ingredients until blended, form 1 1/2 inch meatballs placing on a baking sheet. Make sure to use a baking sheet with raised edges or else the grease will run off your pan and make a big mess in your oven, I learned this the hard way. I personally use a pampered chef baking stone. Bake meatballs for 20-25
While my meatballs were baking I steamed several heads of broccoli and their stalks I added a cup of cooked quinoa and  a jar of trader joe's pomadoro pasta sauce which has 1 g of sugar per half cup which comes out to 6g of sugar for the whole jar. I then combined the broccoli, meatballs, quinoa, sauce and lots of fresh basil and let everything simmer for several mins. I served it topped with more fresh basil and mozzarella cheese. Delish.

Mini Crust less Quiches:
Last night I made crust less mini quiches, so easy and delicious. I thawed and drained a box of chopped spinach, cooked some turkey breakfast sausage's, added some bacon, fresh basil and ricotta cheese and eggs. After every thing was mixed I sprayed my muffin pan with pam and spooned the mixture in. I baked it at 350 for about 45 mins. Depending on your ingredients it doesn't always take that long I set my timer for 25 mins but when I put a butter knife into them they weren't done yet.

Balsamic Vinegar stir fry with quinoa:
Last night I also made a delicious green stir fry. I sauteed asparagus, kale, celery, broccoli and portobello mushrooms in olive oil. I then added fresh garlic, garlic salt and balsamic vinegar. I topped it off with leftover pork chops and quinoa, I portioned it out and...bam lunch and enough to freeze for a later date.


Left mini quiches, Right quinoa stir-fry

Hello everyone, what a refreshing weekend :) So many good things are happening I hope I remember to share them all. First of all I walked to work for the second time on Friday, it feels good to get out and enjoy the beautiful spring sun before work. Friday night we had dinner at my folks, we had taco salad which was delicious. My Dad is still doing the fast track and he looks great, he doesn't want me to share how much weight he has lost but I am very proud of him. My Mom won't be doing another zumba class with me because she is going back east to help my great aunt move. My Mom is such a sweet heart and I am very blessed to have her as my Mom.

Saturday I gave our apt a good cleaning, took a long nap went grocery shopping with hubby and got some new sunglasses. I have been looking for sunglasses that cover more of the delicate skin around my eyes. Hubby and I had another taco salad. Today we went for a long walk which was really nice I love how everything is starting to pop. Weight wise I haven't gotten on the scale lately but I put on a pair of jeans that I haven't worn for awhile because they had gotten too sung...and holy moly they fit :) yeeehawwww:)

Foodwise I am mostly doing the fast track and I feel this works for me. I am exercising more and still drinking less, I feel good about what I have been up to in April. Hubby and I are taking a financial class at our church by Dave Ramsey called Financial Peace, we are so blessed by what we are learning. His premises are simple save, don't spend money you don't have and budget. He breaks is down in a bunch of baby steps. That way of thinking is really helping me in how I view diet/health/exercise. Our class is literally right after work so I have been working on having food available for us to eat so we don't get fast food or go hungry. Tonight I made a crutsless quiche, and a broccoli, spaghetti sauce (low sugar from trader joe's) and meatball dish for us to have for dinner and lunches this week. I feel like this week is off to a good start already. I will let you know how my quiche and broccoli dishes turned out and if they are keeper recipes I will post them. I hope everyone had a nice weekend :)

I love how this blog community is growning

Hello everyone, I love how this blog community is growing I love finding new blogs or blogs that are not new but just new to me, to learn from and to provide support and encouragement :)

Today I started to to journal my food again, I would have started yesterday but honestly I kinda forgot. My food has been good Sunday I made a delicious veggie soup with quinoa and chicken, Monday I added to it with spinach, baby bok choy and mushrooms. I love soup!!! I was inspired to make it after reading an article in Women's World about a new version of the cabbage soup diet. I've done the cabbage soup diet in the past and I actually liked the soup but it was hard to stomach morning, noon and night. Soup can be such a filling and satisfying meal and if it is low in sugar and sodium it's great for weight loss.

For this soup I sauteed a little onion and garlic, 1 carrot, savoy cabbage, 1 tomato, daikon radish, broccoli and asparagus. I then added water and a little sea salt, powdered garlic, and fresh basil. Then I added leftover quinoa and cubed chicken. The next day I added baby bok choy, sauteed mushrooms and a package of frozen spinach, more fresh basil and fresh Italian parsley.

100 calories, 16g carb, 5g protein, 5g fiber,1g sugar

I tried a new veggie burger for lunch today it was a nice addition to my veggie soup with chicken, I used a flax muffin and 1/2 avocado for a sandwich, it was yummy and I only ended up eating half. This burger has a nice flavor and is not very spicy at all.

I think I have shared before that I struggle being productive in the morning, this is an area I am working on  and I am happy to say that I did a good job this morning. Last night before bed I made a realistic list of things that I wanted to accomplish before work: exercise, Bible study, and doing my breakfast dishes before work. This morning I did a 20 min zumba ab workout, eventually I would like to work out more in the morning but this is a realistic start for me. Yesterday was my zumba class that I take with my Mom, I LOVE it and I want to do more. This is the first exercise class I have taken, I was always held back by my own insecurities to ever take anything before. I am so glad that I went out of my comfort zone to take this class because I love it! I have to say I even tried zumba because Kay talks about it on her blog, I was curious and wanted to see what all the hype was about. Happy Tuesday :)