On an Adventure

I'm on an adventure this weekend. I am traveling with my sister to visit my grandparents and I DON'T have my kids!!!! Truthfully, I'm kind of lost without them right now. I'm so used to being "mommy" and for the next 4 days I'm not going to be operating in "mommy" mode. It's a bit unsettling at first. They're in good hands with Daddy at home, but I'm missing them like crazy. I'm not sure how to put "mommy" aside right now and enjoy this weekend. I'm sure once it gets going I will figure it out. I am kind of enjoying my posh seat in the international concourse of the airport right now. Super slick tables with iPads available for use (although I'm using my own), a nice view of the runway... Very enjoyable. I'm waiting for my sister to pick me after she gets done with work. :) I will update on my adventure as it unfolds!

No Weigh In February

I made a new goal for myself. I'm not going to weigh in or measure myself the entire month of February. I was starting to obsess a little bit over the numbers on the scale. My hubby reminded me over and over that I wasn't going to see a drastic change on a day to day basis, but what was depressing me was the yo yo effect. One day I'd step on the scale and be a pound lighter and think "victory! I lost a pound!" The next day I'd step on and "what? I gained two pounds??" Then, right when I was finally seeing a steady number (6 pounds below my starting weight by the way) I went up 3 pounds all of a sudden and have been stuck there for a week. Now, common sense tells me "Sarah, you are retaining water because its coming up on 'that time'." But my emotions tell me "look you gained three pounds you are failing." The last time I went through "that time" I gained 5 pounds that vanished the day after it was over. But even that logic wasn't helping me. So, I made a decision. No more weigh ins for the rest of th smooth. In fact, my next weigh in and measurement won't be until March 4th. I am excited to see what this brings. I'm really hoping it brings a lot less dependence on numbers on the scale and more confidence in the fact that I am working hard, and I will eventually see results. It didn't take two weeks to put on forty extra pounds, it won't take two weeks to take it off.

Recipe: Fiesta Lime Chicken Tacos

We had these for dinner last night. Ohhhhh they were soooo good! And very low sodium too!! These were seriously so much better than the tacos I'm used to making. Because of a time crunch I didn't make my own tortillas this time, but that's on the docket for next time!!

Rub the chicken in spices and let sit. I used Mrs. Dash Fiesta Lime mix because its salt free. You can also use McCormick's fiesta lime spice mix package, or create your own concoction.

Once it has sat for a little bit cook the chicken. I used my electric skillet, but I think it would taste fantastic if done on the grill!

Slice fajita style and serve with taco toppings!

I made a sauce for the tacos using equal parts Mexican Crema and Ortega taco sauce. (My garden isn't planted yet obviously, but when we do I plan to make my own sauces like this with our tomatoes!)

Seriously, we had amazing dinner last night! I'm hoping tonight's coconut curry chicken turns out as nicely.

Why Diets Don't Work

If you read this blog, you know I'm on a "diet". The thing is, I've been doing a lot of thing about dieting and health recently. It all started with me looking for a motivation picture. A picture of me when I used to weigh my goal weight. That would have been when I was in college. As I was looking through pictures of me in college, I realized I didn't want to look like that. See, I may have only weighed 125 in those pictures, but I didn't look good. I was "skinny fat"! "Skinny fat" describes a person who appears skinny, but is still has an unhealthy body fat percentage. That was me. I ate crap, and didn't exercise and I didn't care. I thought I was fine because I looked skinny. But looking at those pictures I can see the unhealthy body fat percentage as easily as I can see it on me now. So, I started thinking about how a diet to lose weight may be all well and good, but once I got down to 125 again what was I going to do to keep that weight off? I came to the sudden realization that I needed a lifestyle change, not a diet. This is part of what fueled my quest for eating real food. If I eat healthy things with ingredients my body can properly digest, I will be a lot healthier than if I eat only diet food for 3 months, then resume crap eating habits after. This is why people gain back everything they lose plus some after they go off a diet. They haven't really changed their lifestyle. So, I'm three weeks into this huge lifestyle change. The first week I craved fatty foods all the time. 24/7. I dreamt about pizza, thought constantly about a bacon cheeseburger, and was haunted by a small Baggie of goodies I use as rewards for my kids. It took all my will power not to cave and eat them. Week two I allowed myself a piece of pizza at the end of the week. I felt awful afterwards, but my brain still wanted more. By yesterday, the thought of pizza was no longer appetizing, and I actually ate some pizza yesterday and I felt so terrible afterwards, it was like, that was it. The have been no more cravings for things like pizza, hot dogs, processed foods, and breads. I do however crave real foods. Like seasoned chicken, raw carrots, whole grains, which I allow myself in small amounts since they are good in small amounts for you. I even love how I feel because I'm not snacking. I LOVE working out. I love how I feel when I'm exercising, and I love how I feel all day afterwards. See, these are the types of things that have changed for me. If you aren't willing to put the work into changing your mindset toward food, then you will always fail on a diet. Diets are temporary. Healthy is for life!!

Recipie- Homemade Whole Wheat Goat Cheese Ravioli

Well, I said yesterday I would post the recipe if it turned out well, and it did!! So here it is!

Pasta:

3 eggs
1 cup whole wheat flour1
cup white flour
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
2 pinches of salt

What To Do

1 In a food processor*, combine all of the ingredients. Process the dough for about 30 seconds until a ball forms. If a ball doesn’t form, add 1 teaspoon of water at a time until the ball forms. Be careful that you don’t make it too wet.

2 Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for about 1 minute until smooth. The whole wheat flour makes this dough fairly tough, but it should be smooth and moist. Cover the dough with a towel and let it rest for 15 to 30 minutes.

3 Roll the dough out using a pasta machine, or by hand with a rolling pin. It can be die-cut with a machine (shown above), hand cut, or made into ravioli.To roll the dough with a pasta machine:– Take about 1/5 of the dough (smaller amounts are easier to work with) and flatten it with your hand. Run it though the pasta rollers at their widest setting. Fold the dough in half and run it through again at the same setting. Repeat this until the pasta runs through smoothly (2 to 4 times). If the pasta becomes sticky at any point, sprinkle a small amount of flour on the sheet of dough and rub it in.– Narrow the rollers one notch and run the pasta through the rollers; fold it in half and run it through again at the same setting. Keep narrowing the rollers one notch at a time and running the dough through once or twice. For the narrower settings, you don’t need to fold the dough in half if it runs through smoothly.– When you get to the desired thickness (third lowest setting on our machine), lay the sheet out flat and rub a little flour onto both sides. Cut the sheet to the length of pasta you want.–Switch the pasta machine to the die-cut side and run your pasta through to cut it (again, shorter amounts of dough are easier to work with).– Lay the pasta out flat until it is ready to boil. If you stack or nest the pasta, make sure it is well floured.– Don’t wash the pasta machine with soap and water. Wait for the pasta to dry and then wipe it with a towel and try to get all of the little bits out. I usually shake it around upside down, run the rollers backwards, and poke at it with a chopstick!

4 When ready to serve, drop the pasta in salted boiling water and cook for only 2 to 4 minutes depending on thickness. It doesn’t take long, so be sure that you don’t overcook!*If you don’t have a food processor, you can use a stand mixer or just knead by hand for several minutes.

Filling:
3/4 tube of goat cheese
1 cup of ricotta cheese
1/2 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese
Add Basil, Garlic powder, onion powder, and salt to taste
Stir together

Sauce:
Ingredients:
4 tbsp. butter
1/4 tsp. sage
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/4 cup parmesan cheese (grated or freshly shaved)
Ravioli (or pasta of choice)

Directions:
1- Bring a pot of water to boil, add the pasta, and cook according to packaging directions.
2- Meanwhile, in a small saucepan add the butter and melt until it begins to brown in the shallowest places. Watch it closely- you don't want to burn your butter.
3- Add sage, remove from the heat.
4- Add lemon and parmesan, stirring well.
5- Pour the sauce over the ravioli, or pasta of choice, and serve hot.

My modifications:
I had to hand tool the pasta dough because I don't own a roller. It was a lot of work and time but it worked out.
I doubled the sauce recipe for two people. It was not enough otherwise. I also added fresh garlic to the sauce.

Eating Real Food

One of the lifestyle changes my family is making is the transition to eating what I'm (rather crudely) calling "real" food. This pretty much translates to food that is made by me from scratch. I'm trying my darndest not to use anything that comes out of a box, frozen package, or can. Of course, this is not set in stone. My kids still have boxed mac and cheese from time to time, and there are days when I'm out of time, so I use a jar of spaghetti sauce instead of making my own. These exceptions don't bother me. I'm not a "set in stone" person where nothing can be subject to exceptions. But I am happy that I am able to start making more food for my family from scratch. I love being able to control what I'm putting into the food. Since Derek and Owen are a little more self sufficient now I am able to start on dinner as early as I need to in order to get "real" food on my table. I am so excited! I do not have a recipe to post today because I am trying something new tonight. If it works I will post a Whole Wheat Goat Cheese Ravioli recipe for you all tomorrow. If it doesn't work, I will dig out an old standby for you :)