Bingeing on Chicken Enchiladas

This past week has not been one of my finest.  To say I overate is an understatement; I completely went unhinged and just binged my way through food.  Last night I managed to finish off a pint of Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia.  I lamented on myfitnesspal and one of my friends responded with some good encouragement and positive thinking.  It was just what I needed!  This morning I woke up early (well, it was actually the time that I should be waking up everyday for work but, that's another post in itself) and got out of bed (HUGE accomplishment) and used the elliptical for 15 minutes.  It doesn't sound like much but it's a BIG WIN for me.  I am NOT, repeat not, a morning person.  The idea of waking up early to exercise makes me want to vomit.  Nausea aside, I actually did it!

I also convinced my husband to make oatmeal smoothies for me to take to work in the morning.  He made me 6 pineapple-coconut smoothies - they're not too bad, I had one on my way to work this morning.  Honestly, I am amazed at how full they keep me.  I drank the smoothie around 9am and didn't feel hungry until about 1:30p.  I brought a white chicken enchilada to work for lunch - leftover from last night.  They are amazing!  I got the recipe from the Pioneer Woman.  Her recipes are sooooo good.  I'm not a big fan of chicken but even I liked them.  More surprisingly my white bread husband liked them and said the recipe was a keeper.

I believe I'm on track for today...tomorrow is another hill to climb.  And, there's an all beef hot dog calling my name (lunch tomorrow?) but...I...must...resist.

Kettlebells, smoothies and a siamese

I had a completely relaxing and uneventful weekend.  I finished a couple of books and started another.  While reading the blog Runs for Cookies (which I love), I picked up on a new exercise, The Swing.  I had never heard of it so I decided to do some research.  Well, basically, it's a technique that uses a kettlebell.  I've used a kettlebell in pilates and it royally kicked my ass, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.  The book, The Swing, is written by a woman who lost over 100 lbs while in her 40s by changing her eating habits and using the kettlebell.  She mentions incorporating walking into her daily routine but credits her success, and awesome muscle tone, to the kettlebell swing.  I've been wanting to get a kettlebell anyway so I thought I'd give her technique a try.  So on my Walmart run to get...stuff...I picked up a 10 pounder.  I've haven't started the exercise yet but I'll get there.

She made good sense in the book.  One of the statements she made that really struck me was "If you can lose 1 pound you can lose 100".  Makes perfect sense.  She also mentioned making a plan - scheduling workouts, planning meals, etc.  Of course that is not the first time I've heard that but it stuck with me for some reason, this time.  In an effort to "make a plan" I spent Sunday evening from 10p-11p making oatmeal smoothies for the rest of the week, packing my lunch for Monday and prepping dinner for Monday (turkey loin, beets, kale and rice).  I found the recipe for the Oatmeal Smoothies on the Yummy Life blog.  There are some great flavors on there and they're really easy to make.  One word of caution:  if you make them for the whole week mix them in 2 batches, not one.  I tried to make 5 smoothies in one blender and there was leakage.  I made the cherry vanilla smoothies for this week and I'm thinking about the coconut pineapple ones for next week.  The apple cinnamon smoothies are good too.  I've also done peanut butter, cocoa powder and banana that was pretty good.

The only noteable thing this weekend was that one of our kitties (we thought) was sick so we made an appointment this morning with the vet.  No, not sick, just an irritated throat from throwing up the food she had because it wasn't the brand she usually gets.  I swear.  That cat is spoiled.  $100 and an antibiotic to protect her precious little throat and she gets to eat canned cat food for a few days...and of course we threw away all of the other food and bought her the special stuff.  It was the siamese cat, in case you wondered.

I have a ceremony to attend to this afternoon and I have to give the welcome, blah, blah, blah speech.  I get so nervous it's a wonder anything comes out of my mouth.  Wish me luck!

Canning and Tanning

I was able to accomplish one of my goals for yesterday:  planning dinner.  It was actually very good, especially considering my lack of pre-planning.  I got my second week of veggies from the CSA I belong to and it had garlic scapes, spinach, kale, radishes, green onions and turnips.  I also had some broccoli that my husband cut from our garden.  So, for the wee one and I, I made pasta with sauteed broccoli, green onion, garlic scapes, garlic cloves and cannellini beans with parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.  I will definately be making that again!  Due to my husband's aversion to anything green he just had pasta with marinara sauce.

After dinner I got everything set up for canning.  My husband was a dear and got my big stock pot full of water and heating before I got home.  It takes FOREVER to get that much water boiling!  I sterilized the jars (we don't have a dishwasher so I have to do it old-fashioned) and the caps and heated up the strawberry jam to boiling.  My husband always helps me with canning (because he's the best husband ever) and does the "dangerous" job of taking the sterile jars out of water and then putting the full jars back in to seal.  I managed to get 8 jelly jars of jam. 

Before I started canning I looked at my CSA produce and realized I had requested way more radishes than I could eat so I decided to try my hand at pickling them.  So, I sliced them thin, made a batch of pickling brine and went ahead and canned the pickled radishes too.  They need to sit and soak for about a week or two before I dig in but we'll see how they turn out.  I'm thinking of making my dad a homemade basket for Father's Day and put jam, pickled radishes, some fresh lettuce and homemade bread in it.  I don't like canning unless I can get at least a full batch done so I was glad that I planned the radish pickles beforehand so the 4 jars I was able to fill would get sealed.

Here is a picture of my canning adventure:

Strawberry jam on the left, pickled radishes on the right

This morning I got my first spray tan.  It was...interesting.  You go into a little booth, take your clothes off (obviously) and a woman uses a spray gun to "paint" the bronzer on.  I made sure to exfoliate the evening before and then moisturize the drier spots (i.e. elbows, feet, knees).  I didn't get completely undressed - I kep my skull and crossbones undies on - I'd show you a picture but that's even TMI for me!  The color is pretty dark and it looks splotchy in a few places but the lady said that it will even out after I take a shower and wash the external bronzer off.  It is supposed to be tan under the bronzer so we'll see.  I can't wash for 10 hours and my skin still feels a little sticky.  I'm anxious to see how long the color lasts.  Supposedly, it will last about 1 week; I'm hoping for a little more time than that. 

I have a pretty full day today and am excited to plan my upcoming weekend!