Crazy Week

The past two weeks have been busy so I haven't been keeping up on much blogging so this might be a long one. I went to St. George on Friday and Saturday as a get-a-way for my sixth anniversary and because I needed and got to take my Brother's Engagements. It was nice to get away from the kids and I'm glad that they were pretty good for my sister.





I'm going to be taking there wedding Photos as well. Talk about some major pressure, but I am excited at the same time.

this weeks getting healthy tip is tip #2

Educate Yourself
Start reading health books and learn what is in food, how it effects you body. How many calories, fat, etc. is in the food you eat. How have others lost weight? New healthy recipes are good and learning healthy substitutions to make recipes healthier.

Some of my suggestions:

Biggest Loser calorie counter- there are a lot of free online options to track your calories, but I find it easier to track mine in the kitchen as I prepare my food. I don't have a computer in my kitchen.

Lickety Split Meals, by Zonya Focco- I have found this recipe book to be the most family friendly healthy recipe book I have found.

Biggest Loser Success Secrets- This gives a lot of great tips and suggestions to help you stick to any plan you choose to do.

Water With Lemon- This book is a different approach to teaching people about eating healthy. It is in a novel form. The story not that interesting to me, but the things you learn about creating habits is great.

You On A Diet- This book gets into the deep medical parts of how food works with your body and the effects it has. “Knowledge is Power” is what they are hoping to do with this book. I found it interesting. It has made me really think about what I'm putting into my mouth.

THIS WEEK ON THE MENU

Wednesday- cheesy poatoes, ham and green beans.
Thursday- eat out
Friday- Pansit
Saturday-Lasagna and salad
Sunday- Creamy chicken and potato soup and rolls.

check out cooleycoop.blogspot.com for recipes.

What's on the menu?

We loved to new chicken and rice recipe we tried last week. I have a few new recipes we are trying this week.

Monday- Sloppy Joe's and tater tots and spinach salad.
Tuesday- Penne pasta with veggies and green salad
Wednesday- Navajo tacos
Thursday- cabbage rolls and cooked zucchini squash.
Friday- Vacation
Saturday- Vacation
Sunday- Sweet and sour chicken on rice.

Penne Pasta with veggies
(this one I'm sort of making up so bare with me)

cook 1 1/2 cups of penne pasta (about 3 Cups cooked)
sliced red bell pepper
1 can drained diced tomatoes
asparagus cut into 1" pieces
Italian seasoning

saute veggies in some olive oil until tender. add drained pasta and Italian seasoning and toss until well mixed. serve.

Cabbage Rolls
(I'm excited to try these, I got the recipe from my friend Krystal's blog)

1 head cabbage
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 lb ground sausage, cooked and drained
1 cup cooked rice
8 oz can tomato sauce
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp worcetershire sauce

immerse cabbage in boiling water for 10 mins until limp, drain and separate leaves. combine egg, milk, salt, pepper, meat, and rice. place about 1/4 cup meat mixture in center of each leaf. fold in sides and roll ends over meat place in 9x13 pan. combine tomato sauce, brown sugar, lemon juice and worcestershire sauce pour over cabbage cook at 350 F for 20-25 mins
* you may also put this in the crock pot and cook on low for 7-9 hrs

Sloppy Joes are pretty self explanatory if you want to know how read the back of the sloppy joe sauce can. For all other recipes check out my Family's recipe blog. the link is on the side bar or click here.

Getting Healthy

Okay so Tuesdays are my getting healthy day. It is the day I weigh in every week, it is also the day my inspiration show is on, Biggest Loser. I started watching the show probably about two and a half years ago. I realized, at that time, I was as heavy as some of those people on there. (The most resent seasons they have gone with heavier people then they use too.) I new I was over weight, but didn't realize I was obese or that other people that were as big as i was were leaving there families for months just to learn how to lose this weight. This was more serious then I had realized.
I knew I would never be able to leave my family for as long as they did, so I figured i had to learn how do do this on my own. It took a while, but I have learned a lot and I am still learning. I have been asked by people for tips or how I've done it or am doing it so I have narrowed it down to six tips of what has helped me and I'm going to share one tip every Tuesday. I hope that it will help some of you and I am open to your ideas and tips also.

Tip #1

Forgive Yourself

This is a life long battle, you can't expect all or nothing. If you over eat one meal forgive yourself and do better the next meal. If you have a bad day start again the next day. Don't wait until next Monday or next month. Never use the excuse “well I already blew it” because with a mentality like that you have. You will have bad moments and bad days, especially at the beginning, but remember it's the long term and over all that matters.

I'm down 3.5 lbs this week yuppie! that is a large loss!

The Menu for this week!

I got this idea from my friend Krystal's Blog. I thought it was a fun idea. I've even taken some of her meals and added them to my "new recipes I want to try" file. So here is whats for dinner this week...
Monday-supreme pizza and toss salad
Tuesday- homemade Mac & cheese w/hot-dogs and Broccoli.
Wednesday-restaurant style taco salad (like Bajio)
Thursday- eat out
Friday- stir-fry
Saturday- Simple baked chicken & rice (new recipe) and spinach salad.
Sunday- Eating with the Family I'm bringing buttermilk syrup.

For most of these recipes check out Cooley Coops kitchen a blog my family has put together.

(New recipe)
Simple Baked Chicken & Rice

1 can of cream of mushroom or chicken soup
1 can reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/3 C light sour cream or nonfat plain yogurt

stir together in a 9"x 13" baking dish

1 bag (16 oz) California blend frozen vegetables
1 can (10 oz) cooked white chicken, drained
1 1/2 Cups whole-grain instant brown rice, dry
1tsp dried onion flakes
10 dashes or grinds of fresh ground pepper.

Add to dish and stir, cover and put in preheated oven 375 degrees for 45 min. serve with fruit and salad or a fruity salad.

Blogging

So I have become really lazy at blogging ever sense I signed up for facebook over a year ago. I didn't even average one blog a month last year. I am going to set a new goal of blogging a few times a week. okay so maybe it is a little ambitious to expect that much of a change, but I'm going to try. I may take some ideas from some of you out there, so take it as flattery rather than offensive that I am coping you.
I just want to start out today talking about my date I went out on with my hubby last night. We go out on Thursday nights. It started when we were engaged, we both worked retail and it was the easiest night of the week to get our employer to agree on letting us off every week. We have stuck with it because we like the fact we dont have to fight crowds. It works now because Grandma babysits, but we are sure it will be changing in the future.
We went to see Avatar last night, two thumbs up here. I know most of you probably have already seen it, considering it is the top grossing movie ever. I had to go see what the fuss was all about. I knew very little about it before I went, except it had really great special effects, and if I get motion sick(which I do) not to watch it in 3D. So we went to the non-3D version. The story was really good, it frustrated me because I just wanted to yell at the people on the screen, "Didn't you learn anything from American history? Just because people are different then you doesn't mean they are not people!" If you've seen it you know what I'm talking about. Anyway it is really good so if you haven't seen it I suggest you do.