Weigh Day

Last week I had only lost 1 pound and it was really starting to get to me, so this week I actually started exercising and I'm

happy to say I hit my goal of losing 3 pounds!

So that brings the total up to 19.

Less than a month to get those next 11 pounds!

 

 



Make Up

Liv's uncle Broc spoils her constantly.

Today he showed up to the house with a Barbie makeup kit.

Liv was in heaven!

 

 

 



Kellen preferred to watch and enjoy his grilled cheese.



Chocolate peanut butter tart

I made this tart for the Superbowl a couple of

weeks ago and it was a huge hit!

 

It was the perfect combination of sweet and salty!

 

 

Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Pretzel Tart via Hot Polka Dot

Makes 1 12 inch tart
Source: My imagination

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 cup crushed pretzels
1 1/2 cup flour
1 egg
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter

In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat together the butter, powdered sugar and half the crushed pretzels until it's creamy. Mix in the flour, egg and remaining pretzels making sure to leave some pretzel pieces intact for added crunch. Form the dough into a flattened ball, wrap it in plastic wrap and chill it for 1 hour or overnight.

When you're ready to roll out the tart shell take the dough out of the refrigerator and let it sit for about 10 minutes to take a bit of the chill off. Butter a 12 inch round fluted tart pan with a removable bottom and set it aside. Sandwich the dough between 2 large sheets of wax paper and roll it out into a 15 inch circle. Rolling it out with wax paper helps you avoid sticky dough, messy flour, reduces cracks and makes it easy to turn it over into the tart pan. Once the sheet of dough is centered in the prepared tart pan press it into the corners of the pan and fold the excess dough back over the sides to create a nice strong double edge crust, making sure to keep the dough level with the edge of the pan. Pierce the dough a few times with a fork and freeze it for half an hour.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and position a rack in the center. Butter the shiny side of a piece of aluminum foil and fit it buttered side down tightly against the inside of the tart shell. Place the tart on a baking sheet and bake it for 20 – 25 minutes. Remove the foil and bake it for another 10 minutes until the edges turn golden brown. Transfer the tart to a rack and let it cool completely before filling.

A loss is a loss

I was really wanting to have a big number on the

weight loss journey this week but sadly it's just one pound.

So that brings the total to 16 pounds.

 

It's hard to not get discouraged when you don't get the numbers you want, but I have to think about the fact that I'm down 16 pounds.

Plus I've not been exercising at all like I should be,

so that's my goal this week.

 

I'm shooting for a 3-4 pound loss at next weeks weigh in

 to make up for this one.

With the kids birthday's next month I really would like to

hit my goal of 30 pounds by Kellen's birthday, which I

think is doable if I would just get moving.

So we'll see!

 

I get so bored with exercising so if anyone has any tips

feel free to throw them out there!

 

Joe and Kellen this weekend when the weather was still nice

 

Toasted Pecans

This is one of my favorite ways to eat pecans.

I'm not a fan of them in foods, but I will eat them plain all day long.

Toasting them brings out their great flavor.

The great thing about this recipe is you don't need to measure anything.

 

 

 

Start out with a stick of butter and melt it.

Then add in your seasoning.

I put in some season salt, hot sauce, and Worcestershire.

Throw in your pecans and toss.

Then pour onto a baking sheet.

I like to lift the pecans out with my hands, that way I don't get any

liquid that didn't adhere to them.

 

Bake in a preheated oven at 265 degrees for about an hour.

Stir every 15 minutes.

Check after 45 minutes to make sure they are not too dark.

Enjoy!

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day!

We had a quiet dinner at home (well semi-quiet , I'm not

sure how quiet it can be with 2 little ones)

The menu consisted of bacon, eggs, hashbrowns,

and pink pancakes, which Liv loved!

And for dessert chocolate mousse. 

 

My little valentines sharing an apple.

 

Ultimate Broccoli

The weight loss journey is going really well so far!
I’m down 15 pounds!
I know I have a long way to go, but it’s definitely reassuring to see the scale number going down.

Today I wanted to highlight a recipe for broccoli
 that I saw on Pinterest.
It was one of the first recipes I ever pinned
but I just recently got around to trying it.

Well, let me just say this is the only way
I will ever eat broccoli again!
It was seriously awesome. I’m not a huge broccoli fan but I could eat this every night.

Another nice thing about it is it can be completely
done and on the table in 20 min.

 Best Broccoli
Adapted from the Amateur Gourmet

4 lbs. of broccoli (I used 3 large bunches)
Olive oil
Kosher Salt & Pepper
4-5 Garlic cloves
Lemon
Parmesan

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

 

Take the broccoli and cut into florets and place on cookie sheet.

Peel the garlic cloves and slice. Add the slices to the broccoli.

Drizzle the broccoli and garlic cloves with olive oil (about 4 Tbsp., just eyeball it), then sprinkle with kosher salt and pepper.  

Roast for 20-25 minutes until the broccoli tips turn brown.

When the broccoli comes out of the oven drizzle a couple of Tbsp. of olive oil over the top.  Then zest a lemon over top, and juice half of the lemon over it. Finally grate some fresh Parmesans over top (about 1/3 cup). This is definitely best when hot.

Long over due

Well, it's been an eventful few weeks.

In between a death in the family and some medical things

I've had a hard time getting on here to post.

 

Then when I finally get ready to start typing lightening hits our

phone line and takes out our Internet, just my luck.

 

So here we are a couple of weeks since my last post.

I've got some good recipes I'll be posting soon.

For now here are some pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Super Bowl dessert I made (recipe coming soon!)