Together Again

It's been a long long time since I blogged. Sigh. A lot has happened. We moved, bought a new house, hubby got a new job... Life got crazy. The good news is that I have an actual desk now. A place to write. No longer do I have to drag the laptop out on the couch (because it's so much easier to write on the actual laptop than it is on my iPad.), I can just flip it open and sit down and write. I'm hoping this will inspire me to do so more often. I often have so much to write about and no time to do it in. Anyone else ever feel that way? So for now, I will leave it at this: look for me more often! I am going to try my hardest to get over here and write more :)

Coconut Curry Chicken Tacos

I had a couple of requests for the recipe for the dinner I made tonight. I don't blame them. This food was KICKIN'! Ok, it's a little complicated and it took me over an hour to prepare this, so make sure you have a lot of time, this is not a short and sweet weeknight dinner, but if you have the time it's worth it!

Chicken:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thawed

-In a mixing bowl pour about 2 cups of milk (for light version use skim milk)

-In another bowl pour enough Panko bread crumbs to cover the bottom of the bowl

-Dip each chicken breast into the milk, and then into the Panko crumbs making sure the chicken is covered completely by the Panko crumbs.

-Spray a baking dish with no stick spray and place both chicken breasts in the dish

-Bake at 350* until crumbs are golden and chicken is white all the way through

-Cube breasts

Curry Sauce:

-2 tbsp Olive Oil

-1 tsp Red Pepper Flakes

-2 cloves of fresh Garlic, minced

-1 tbsp Mild Curry Powder

-1/2 tbsp Hot Curry Powder (or another 1/2 tbsp of mild curry powder if you don't like spice)

-1 1/4 cups of Coconut Milk (for light version use light coconut milk)

-2 tbsp Soy Sauce (for light version use low sodium soy sauce)

-2 tsp sugar (for light version use Truvia)

-1/2 tsp Salt

-In a bowl combine salt, sugar (Truvia), soy sauce, and coconut milk and mix

-In a sauce pan heat olive oil for 30 seconds. Add garlic, red pepper flakes and curry powder and heat 15 seconds

-Add coconut milk mixture and bring to a boil. Then turn down the heat and simmer, whisking occasionally, until sauce thickens

Yogurt Sauce:

-1/2 cup plain yogurt (for light version use light or fat free yogurt)

-1/2 tbsp lemon juice

-1 tbsp cumin

-Pinch of paprika

-1/2 tbsp cilantro 

-Pinch of salt

Mix all ingredients in a mixing bowl

Refrigerate until needed

I made the light version of this. I also used corn tortillas for the taco shells and I baked them in my oven to crisp them up. We chopped up red pepper, jalapeños, and cilantro to top the tacos, and also topped with snow pea pods. To build your curry taco, take your shell, put some cubed crusted chicken in it, spoon curry sauce in. Top with veggies (could also use cabbage and shaved carrots all raw), and finish with yogurt sauce. Yum!!!!

Time for an update!

How are we in mid April already??? My goodness time flies by! I thought I would post a weight loss update for those interested! (Yes, I'm still doing that!) I struggled big time in January and February. I wasn't sure how to start the weight loss process, and, although I was serious about it, I started small. Healthier meals and snacks, and walking on a treadmill. After two months and only a 3lb weight loss, I decided it was time to up the ante a little. At the beginning of March I bought Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred DVD and started doing it every morning. After one mont of doing that DVD every morning 5 mornings a week (you're supposed to take two rest days), I am proud to report I have now lost 8lbs total!! That means I'm only 2lbs away from my first ten!! It's taken me a while to get going, but now I'm hopefully on a roll! Besides 30 Day Shred, I'm also keeping very very careful track of my calorie intake with the help of My Fitness Pal, and of course taking the ItWorks Thermofit and Fat Fighters. Hoping to take 5 more lbs off in the coming month!

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!!