The Movies

So yesterday my Mom, Liv, Kellen and I all went to the movies.

It was Livs first time going. She was beyond excited.

All day we had been talking about it and when I went to wake her up

from her nap the first thing she said was "movies.'

When we got there she was fascinated with the popcorn popper.

She kept saying, "mmm, that's good and tasty!"

We watched the movie Brave, which I highly recommend.

My mom had been dying to take her to see it.

Liv with her snacks 

Kellen even enjoyed it! He never made a peep through the whole thing.

Afterwards Mom gave her the horse and girl from the movie :)

I can't wait to take her again! Her great grandparents have already asked

to take her to see Madagascar!

When we got home from the movies I was in a rush to make dinner so I grabbed a

recipe I had been wanting to try and that I knew was fast.

I think I had it on the table in about 20 minutes.

I found it in a Krafts food magazine a couple of years back and had never tried it.

Joe took 3 helpings if that tells you anything!

I forgot to take a picture but next time I do I will add it on here.

Speedy Chicken Stir Fry

8 oz angel hair pasta

2 cups broccoli florets

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips

1/2 cup Kraft Asian toasted Sesame Dressing

2 T. soy sauce

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper.

Cook pasta according to directions, adding broccoli to the boiling water for the last 3 minutes of the cooking time.

Meanwhile, spray a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray; heat on medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 6-8 minutes or until cooked through, stirring occasionaly. Stir in dressing, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and cayenne pepper; cook 1 minutes stirring occasionally.

Drain pasta/broccoli and add it to the chicken mixture and toss together.

It was a really easy dinner and one I will definitley put in the rotation.

You could you any kind of vegetables you wanted in place of the broccoli.

Wednesday Weigh Day

One week down!

I haven't exercised yet, so that is my goal this

next week is to incorporate that into my routine.

The eating part has not been bad at all.

I think the hardest thing for me is cooking for Liv and Joe.

If it were up to me I would eat the same thing for dinner for a couple of nights in a row.

But that's not an option.

So I have been trying to find some healthy alternatives to our everyday menu.



So the total weight loss for the week is 13 lbs!

Not to shabby :)

I knew I would have a big number the first week.

I know it's a long journey, but I'm off to a great start!

Ryker and cookies

My cousin Ryker got into town a couple of weeks ago.

It's kind of a tradition that we always try out a new recipe together.

Usually it's some sort of a cookie or cake, I wasn't sure what we would be

able to make since I'm trying to eat good.

I came across the recipe a while back, I'm not sure where, I 

think a magazine and I have been wanting to try it.

I was definitely hesitant on this recipe for the sheer fact that the main ingredient was

chickpeas!

But we decided to forge ahead and try them anyway.

So....how did they turn out?......

They were really good! I was absolutely shocked!

You definitley have to eat them straight out of the oven or heat up in
the microwave because cold they weren't that great.

I will definitely make these again!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Fakes

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups canned chickpeas, well-rinsed and patted dry with a paper towel
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons (165 grams) natural peanut butter
1/4 cup (80 grams) honey
1 teaspoon baking powder
a pinch of salt if your peanut butter doesn't have salt in it
1/2 cup (90 grams) chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Combine all the ingredients, except for the chocolate chips, in a food processor and process until very smooth. Make sure to scrape the sides and the top to get the little chunks of chickpeas and process again until they're combined. Put in the chocolate chips and stir it if you can, or pulse it once or twice. The mixture will be very thick. Form into 1 1/2" balls. Place on a baking sheet with parchment paper. If you want them to look more like normal cookies, press down slightly on the balls. They don't do much rising. Bake for about 10 minutes. Yields about fourteen 1 1/2" cookie dough balls.

Swimming and Baked Oatmeal

I can't believe it's already Sunday!

When Joe works on Saturdays it feels like our weekend is over before it starts!

Yesterday evening we took the kids swimming.

It was Livs first swim of the summer and Kellens first ever swim.

Liv really enjoyed jumping off the side of the pool.

Kellen joyed the water too.

I loved his swim trunks!

I think Liv and Daddy's favorite part was the ice cream though ;)

For Sunday morning I thought I would try some baked oatmeal that I have been

seeing on Pinterest lately. I looked at quite a few recipe and since I was out of

many of the ingredients they called for I made up my own recipe.

Liv loved it!

It was a nice change form the typical oatmeal we eat.

Here is my recipe. You could change the nuts and berries based on what you like.

Or even add more bananas and applesauce if you wanted.

The oatmeal is not super sweet so you could add some sugar or double the

maple syrup if you're wanting something sweeter.

Baked  Fruit and Nut Oatmeal

Ingredients

1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

1/4 cup sliced almonds, divided

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. salt

2 T. maple syrup

1 cup skim milk

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp. vanilla

1 banana, sliced

1/4 cup applesauce

1 cup berries, divided (I used a mixture of raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries that were frozen)

Preheat oven to 375F.

Lightly grease a 9 inch square baking dish.

In a bowl mix the oats, half of the almonds, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. In a measuring cup mix the milk, egg, maple syrup and vanilla.

Lay the banana slices in the bottom of the baking dish. Then spoon the applesauce over the top. Next add about half of the berries. Take the oat mixture and spinkle it over the berries in an even layer.

Now take the liquid mixture and pour it all over the oats, finish off the dish by sprinkling the remaining half cup of berries and half of the almonds on top.

I baked mine for 35 minutes till it was lightly browned on the edges.



Wednesday Weigh Day

Today is the day.
I have been needing to start my weight loss journey for a while now.

Since I had Kellen I have just kept putting it off but now it's time.

So every Wednesday I'll come on here and hopefully tell how much weight I lost

for the week and any other neat tidbit of information I may have.

Perhaps some really good healthy recipe or anything

else I have come across that has helped me. 

When I was pregnant with Kellen I only gained 7 lbs. and I think a lot of it

had to do with the fact that I was accountable to someone.

Every month I would have to come in and weigh and I knew that they were

keeping track of it and I really didn't want to face them if I gained a ton.

So I watched what I ate and kept my weight gain really low.

So that is kind of the same concept I'm going for here.

I'm hoping that by doing this every week and making it known how I'm doing,

I will be more likely to stick with it and succeed.

I've also got a class reunion at the end of next month and I'm

hoping to be down at least 20 lbs. by then.

So if anyone has any tips or wants to join me in this journey feel free to comment!

I'll see you next week with hopefully a loss to tell you about!

Cake Decorating

For the past year I have been trying a bit of cake decorating.

There have been some hits and misses, but below are

some of my favorites so far.

Family Reunion

Wow! What a weekend!

We were suppose to leave the house Thursday night to head on down to my

family's reunion. But Joe ended up having to work, so we left Friday.

We always have a golf tournament on Friday but this year, since

I just had Kellen, I decided to sit it out. Joe was going to play but ended up working

late and missed it. So instead of being rushed that morning we took our time

getting down there and it was really nice.
Liv went on down Thursday night with my parents, so it was just

Joe, Kellen and I.

Friday night we had a big family dinner at the "lodge."

I would say there was around 60 family members that attended this year.

I'm really blessed to be apart of a family that does this.

I've been going to it since I was born and its so neat to be able to keep in

touch with all these family members.

I swear Liv is going through a growth spurt because she ate nonstop the whole weekend!

Saturday, for those who wanted to, there is a float trip.

Joe and I opted out with two small kids, but I know it won't be long

till we are all four loaded up in a canoe together.

So instead my parents, Joe, and I all took Liv

on her first boat ride.

I wasn't quite sure what she would think of it.

She loves to sit in the boat and honk the horn but going 30 mph on the lake is a little different.

I'm happy to say she absolutely loved it!

I would have been shocked if she didn't though, since boating and fishing is in our blood!

Kellen took many baths in the sink, how cute is he?

Liv spent a lot of time looking out at the lake.

Joe and Liv

View from our cabin.

Liv went to feed the fish.

The fish were huge and very hungry!

Kellen and I.

Sunday we had "chapel" with our Uncle Bones officiating.
It's always nice to get together one last time and have a church service and reflect on the weekend.

Joe and I (for the first year) were in no hurry to get home,

so we took our time packing and let Liv play at the playground one last time before we set off.

We had such a fun time this year. 

 We also had to get some pictures for Fathers Day.
I'm truly blessed with a wonderful husband and father to our children!



Happy Fathers Day!