Review Of My 2014 New Year's Resolutions

It seems like every year I write New Year's resolutions but every year, I never really update the blog on how I did with them.  I have to be honest, most of my resolutions go right out the window within a few months...but doesn't everyones? I wrote this post last year about my New Year's resolutions and I thought now would be a great time to update them before I decide my goals for 2015.

Here are my 2014 New Year's resolutions in review:

1. Lose the last 10 pounds of baby weight.
Here's the same picture that I posted last year and still I find it a little embarrassing, that I gained 60 pounds while pregnant.

I lost most of the baby weight through calorie counting and working out 5 times a week, but the remaining (and elusive) 10 pounds I couldn't get rid of. So in 2014 I changed up my dieting plan and tried some "fad" diets out there. I did Paleo for a month, Power Protein for a month, 3 day Lemonade Diet, and 21 Day Fix Diet. Also, I increased my workouts to 6 times a week. So did I lose the weight....NO! And actually I am up 4 pounds, so that puts me at 14 pounds to lose. I will rant more about this in my 2015 goals. 

2. Build this table.

This super cute table is from Shanty2Chic and I couldn't be more in love with it. We had removed 39 trees from our yard two summers ago and we had some of the trees milled into boards for us. They have been sitting in the basement waiting to get the bark removed. In 2014, we did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING on the boards. However, January 1st hit this year (2015) and my husband and I got after cutting the boards down to size and remove the bark. We are making some progress on this! We are about 75% done with the bark on all the boards and my super sweet neighbor is going to let us borrow her shop tools to plane the rough boards smooth. 

3. Get organized.

Like most Moms, I felt completely unorganized in my life. 

Between all the kid things, the dishes, the toys, the puzzle pieces, the dog, the laundry my life is all sorts of unorganized. I spent the better half of 2014 organizing cupboards, toys, rooms, etc. and it worked out great! I created the cool puzzle organizer for my son's puzzle pieces.

I also created a cool Lego Table for my son's legos, that I have yet to post on. However, all my efforts of organizing this house will be wasted in 2015. More details on this in my 2015 New Year's Resolutions to come. 

4. Be More Present.
My friend Greta over at Modern Garden wrote the goal of being more present in life for 2014. What a great resolution!

Honestly, in 2014 I was more present. I had to be. I have a very precocious 4 year old son who wants to learn all the time. We spend hours with him reading books, doing math problems, writing, making science experiments. He takes a lot of my time and it sort of made me regret not starting him in preschool earlier then age 4. We also have a spirited, very independent daughter that has had her struggles this year with eye surgeries and stomach issues. Life of a mother is always busy right?? In addition to all my mommy duties, I still work from home and 2014 was my busiest year since having kids!

5. Climb the highest free-standing mountain in the world.
Yeah, I know crazy goal right and did it happen in 2014? NO!

I blame the US Department of State for issuing a travel warning to any American citizen going to Kenya and that pesky Ebola for getting in the way. It's an adventure I know my husband will make one of these days, but we would rather be safe then sorry on this trip! 2014 was not without travel, I feel like every year we go more and more places. In 2014, I went to Kansas City, Omaha, Dallas, NYC twice, Vegas, Colorado, Oklahoma, St. Maarten, and California! (Typing all that made me exhausted!) 2015 we have started planning our year trips, but trying to keep it down because of some major life changes we will be facing. Again, more on that in another post.

There's my 2014 New Year's Resolutions updated! As I predicted, many were not accomplished but I feel good that a few were. Even though I didn't accomplish all on my list last year, we did accomplish a lot of projects around the house. We finished the little bit we had left on the fire pit, we dug landscaping trenches around all of our 500ft of  bushes and filled it with wood chips, I added a new 150ft of landscaping to our side yard, we built a dock, and we stocked bass in our pond.

As I said above, I have some big plans for 2015 so stayed tuned for my upcoming post on my 2015 New Year's Resolutions and plans for the year!

Like this post?

Pin It

Low Carb Chocolate Pecan Mousse Cake

Yesterday was my birthday. I won't tell you how old I am, but all I will say is I am closer to 40 then I am to 20! With that being said, I feel like this year, so far, has been a bunch of non-stop trips away from home for our family. Now I am not complaining about this, but I have a big problem with controlling my food intake while not at home! Our next getaway is scheduled 3 weeks from now and I am determined to shed the baby weight before that trip, so I have resorted to something I have never done....follow a diet plan! Without going into too much detail (and maybe I will at a later date if I have success with this diet) I am trying one of those crazy 'low carb' diets. 

And now back to my birthday and the whole reason for this blog --every year for my birthday I have the same thing. A chocolate box cake with a chocolate can of icing. My husband tried for many years to go all out and make me some sort of fancy cake, but I kept telling him that all I wanted was "a box cake and can of frosting". 

Since I am trying to stay low carb'd (under 40 grams a day) I told him to go crazy with making me a "low carb" cake and this is what we came up with. He made the base and I made the topping (because I wanted more chocolate....it's my birthday after all!) This cake to some people would not be the lowest carb cake out there, but you know what...it's good! 

The nutty pecans give a great flavor to the cake part and the semi-sweet dark chocolate mousse topping add extra decadence without going over on the sweetness. I find with many Splenda desserts I can only taste the Splenda and adding the mousse topping really balanced out the sweetness to feel like you are eating a full fattening cake! I hope you enjoy as much as we did!

For the cake base you will need: 

2 cups pecans 

1/3 cup cocoa

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup splenda

4 eggs

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup water

For the mousse topping you will need:

3.5 oz 70% dark chocolate, broken into pieces

1.5 oz butter

1 teaspoon of salt

2 eggs

To Begin,

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter a 8-inch spring form pan. 

2. Process pecans in food processor until they are a powdery consistency without turning into pecan butter. 

3. Add cocoa, baking powder, salt, and splenda to the processed pecans. Stir until well combined. 

4. Add the eggs, melted butter, vanilla, and water to the dry ingredients and stir well. 

5. Pour into buttered spring form pan and bake for 25 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

6. Let cake base cool. 

Once your cake has cooled, begin the process for the mousse.

1. In the microwave or double boiler, melt the chocolate with the butter.

2.  Separate the egg yolks from the whites.  Add the yolks to the chocolate mix and 

combine well. Put whites in a cool glass mixing bowl.

3. Add a pinch of salt to the whites and beat them with a mixer until the whites are form soft peaks. (They almost will look like whipping cream.)

4. Fold them in the chocolate mix and then pour mousse mixture over the top of the cake.

5. Store the cake in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours until the mousse is set. 

6. Slice and serve with a dollop of whipping cream or some sliced strawberries.

The Skinny: 16 pieces (you don't need huge ones for this cake) at 238 calories each

source

Like this post?

Pin It

Why I Run

I recently read a little comic by the guy who runs TheOatmeal.com about why he runs long distances and it got me thinking on my run this morning. Why do I run....

 (Me post 5 mile run   ---please don't judge my for my fanny pack....I love my water!)

1. To Lose Weight- I am 13 pounds away from my pre-baby weight and I have found that running burns a ton of calories in the shortest amount of time. I run to lose that 13 pounds --and I will lose it.

2. To Exercise Without Kids- I love my kids, but because that I stay home with them I am around them ALL THE TIME running allows me to run away.  --Run far, far away from my responsibilities of being a mother/wife and have some good alone time.

3. To Create Memories With My Kids- I know, this totally contradicts the statement above, but I cannot always run without my kids. My husband works a strange schedule, so it is very rare when I get to run alone (without waking up at dawn while the family sleeps.) Luckily I purchased this awesome double jogging stroller that I can ACTUALLY run with!

source

I love this stroller and use (and talk) about it all the time. I load the kids up and I do "running park tours". We run to the first park and I set my timer for 10 minutes for them to play. Then we run to the next par, etc. The little breaks allow me to recover and I can usually get a good 5 mile run in, they get to play, and we have lots of fun going to a ton of parks in a few hours. In the evenings we end our runs with a stop at the frozen yogurt shop in town and everyone enjoys that!

4. Vanity- I run for defined legs, smaller rear, and tighter abs. It is VERY rare that you see someone who is a regular runner and they don't look good. Running works so many muscles in your body that it's almost impossible not to see the side effects. And like I said above, I still have some baby weight to lose!

5. My husband- My husband is a runner and without him I would still be that girl that runs a 15 minute mile. (Really I would be that girl who walks a few blocks and feels winded.) He likes to run, I like to try to run with him, we like to run races together, and it's nice we have in running in common. We constantly ask each other how far we ran, where we ran, how fast we ran and it's a normal topic of conversation we both have. (Secretly I am trying to run faster and father with him, but he is a 15 mile type of guy so I have some ways to go!)

6. Nature- I run to enjoy the beauty of the outside. I live barely outside of city limits and my runs are always scenic. Most of my neighbors have horses, there are acres of forest, acres of fields, deer galore, and bunnies that hop out of my way when I run by. Every once in a while I have to stop and take a picture of something that reminds me how much I love this area we live in.

7. For Myself- The final reason I run is for "ME" time. I can say that 75% of the days I go running I don't want to do it. It's hard. I feel every muscle in my legs working, my chest is tight from breathing hard (or maybe my asthma?), my abs start hurting after a while, and I am usually pretty tired after my first mile. However, the feeling I get when I am finished is AWESOME and keeps me going. Not only do you experience the phenomenon known as runner's high, but you also have the chance to really think while running. It is sort of my therapy to mull over thoughts in my mind, hatch out problems, make plans, or even sometimes it's my time to just have nothing in my mind.


That's my reasons for why I run. I may not be a marathon runner, the fastest runner, or the best looking runner, but then again I am really just running for myself and that is really all that matters.

source

Do you run? If so, I would love to hear the reasons why you run!

Like this post?

Pin It

Losing The Baby Weight With The Second Child

This has been the post I have been dreading the most about writing. I have not had any time over the last few months to really post as much as I would like, but this post has been weighing on my mind  ---literally. It's the dreaded "losing the baby weight" post.

If you follow our blog regularly, you know that I was SOOOO good about documenting this baby weight battle with my first child. (Read previous posts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, & 8). At the time I wrote the final post of this series Aiden was 9 months old and I weighed 124 pounds. I had lost 46 pounds in 9 months!

Here's a nice before and after pic:

As of right now, my daughter Remy is 9 months old and can't be any cuter!

However, being that this is now my second child I wanted to confirm the rumors that are true....losing the weight with the second child is harder! At least it seems that way!

There are a number of reasons I think it seems harder...sleep deprivation, chasing around two kids, lack of time, lack of energy, and honestly I love my nightly glass of red wine with chocolate! Whatever excuses I want to give you, the honest truth is I just decided not to put the pressure on myself the way I did with my first child. My mother always told me that it takes you 10 months to put the weight on and it will take at least 10 months to take it off. I decided to take it easy this time around, spend more time with my kids instead of time with my treadmill, and try to eat healthy most days.

I started out this pregnancy weighing 8 pounds more than my ideal weight and ended the pregnancy at a whopping 181 pounds. With the help of myfitnesspal, endomondo, total insanity, p90x (parts of it), and a few other workout videos I can say I am getting there! I may not be as far as I was the first time around, but at least I am working at it and focusing on not putting too much pressure on myself. I currently weigh 133 pounds. And for those math majors out there, that's a lost of 48 pounds which is surprisingly more then I lost with my first at this time. (BTW, this was a surprise to me as I wrote this post!)  I still have a good 13 pounds to lose to be back at my pre-baby weight, but I am not sweating it (except when I workout!)

The moral of this story for all you second time moms out there is:

You will lose the weight.

Focus on eating healthy, take your kids for walks to parks (far away), and reward yourself periodically so you don't deprive yourself and binge. You will lose the weight!

Like this post?

Pin It

Bow Tie Pasta and Creamy Mushroom Sauce

Bow Tie Pasta and Creamy Mushroom Sauce
My husband and I are counting our calories again and I made this recipe tonight for dinner. We were both excited at how much this dish filled us up and was so tasty!! My son kept calling it "butterfly pasta" and enjoyed it too. It will definitely be a repeat recipe of ours! 

12 ounces uncooked bow tie pasta
1 tablespoon light butter
8 ounces portobello mushrooms, sliced*
4 ounces shiitake mushrooms, sliced*
1 small onion, chopped
1/3 cup shallots, chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup white wine
2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, shredded
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1. Cook bow tie pasta in pan according to directions on package.
2. At the same time while cooking pasta, heat olive oil in pan.
3. Add onions and shallots to olive oil and cook until translucent, about 8 minutes.
4. Add garlic to onions and cook for 1 minute.
5. Add sliced mushrooms, salt, pepper, and white wine to onion/garlic mixture. Cook until mushrooms are tender.
6. Add cooked bow tie pasta, whipping cream, cheese, and 2 tablespoons parsley to mushrooms. Toss pasta to coat. Salt and pepper to taste if needed.
7. Serve with crusty bread on the side and enjoy!

* You can substitute any type of mushroom for this dish, just make it a full 12 ounces. 

The Skinny: Serves 6 @ 352 calories

source

Like this post?

Pin It

Moroccan Chicken with Currants and Almonds

For our early Father's Day celebration, my husband made us dinner. Yep, you read that right-- he cooked for himself on Father's Day! He likes cooking and I am more than willing on some nights to give up the cooking task. He made this super yummy dish and I had to stop mid-eating to take a picture of it. I told him it was totally blog worthy!

This chicken meal combines a variety of earthy spices with the sweetness of currents and the crunch of almonds. Not to mention the whole dish is pretty low calorie! I hope you enjoy as much as we did! This will become a regular meal for us!  

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup almonds, chopped and toasted
2 tablespoons of garlic, minced
1 pound of boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed
1 cup salsa
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons dried currants
1 tablespoon honey
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups cooked brown rice

1. Toast your chopped almonds. You can either use the broiler or use a small amount of oil in a pan. The broiler adds no extra calories!
2. Add olive oil to a pan and cubed chicken. Cook until almost done.
3. Add garlic and continue cooking chicken until cooked all the way through.
4.  Add salsa, water, currants, honey, cumin and cinnamon to the chicken.
5.  Reduce heat to medium, cover and cook for 20 minutes. Stir occasionally. (If the sauce gets dry just add a little more water, it will vary based off the type of salsa you used.)
6. Serve over cooked brown rice and top with some toasted almonds.

The Skinny: Serves 4 @ 383 calories

source

Enjoy!

Like this post?

Pin It

Unhealthy Eating/Drinking Habit Confession

Photo Source

With Spring and Summer quickly approaching, I (along with many other women across the country) am thinking more about eating right and focusing on healthier habits.

Photo Source

One of my favorite ways to gain inspiration for this (and basically anything else) is to peruse Pinterest for healthy eating tips and exercises. Pinterest is chock-full of great motivation and tips for keeping your cravings at bay. However, as I go through all of these great tips and ideas I can't help but feel complete mortification when I realize how badly I eat sometimes. Actually, I seem to have the biggest problem in what I choose to drink.

Here is the very real but very embarrassing truth: my typical day consists of coffee in the morning (1-3 cups), caffeine in the afternoon (sugar-free Red Bull or Diet Coke) and to end my day, a glass of wine. This is as I said, a typical day for me. How HORRIBLE is that?! To sum it up I am totally addicted to caffeine and then top off my day with sugary wine.

Photo Source

I realize this is so not good for me. It just isn't healthy. But here is my issue: I love drinking it so much, and since it all fits into my daily calorie goal, I have no motivation to stop. I suppose it's like smoking or any other bad habit; if you don't really, TRULY want to quit then you don't. And I just don't want to :( I love coffee, diet pop and wine. As long as I'm within my calorie goal, how do I feel motivated to stop? The scary info about ingredients in these items doesn't even deter me. I should say that I think a lot of my bad food/drink habits are the factor of emotional eating or drinking. I work and attend graduate school FULL TIME. Sometimes I feel like coffee is this happy, little victory in my morning... and the same with the other drinks. Again, what a horrible habit. Clearly I have to learn to channel my emotions into different outlets. Some of you may think, "I've never done that!" but can you honestly say you've never had a time when you looked forward to relishing a special meal? Particularly after a stressful week at works or after studying for hours on end? I think it's an easy trap to fall into. Unfortunately if I'm honest with myself, until I'm finished with grad school all I can realistically do is cut back on the bad stuff instead of eliminating it all together.

Photo Source

Do you have a shameful food or drink habit that you can't seem to give up and frankly don't want to?

Photo Source

~Christi

335 Calorie Mug Brownie!

My husband I were craving brownies the other night, but the problem is that when I make brownies we end up eating the whole pan. Now this may not sound like that bad of an idea (in fact, some people would say it sounds delicious!) but did you know that the average brownie mix baked is 3400 calories per pan! That's an extra 3400 calories a week or almost a pound. (3500 calories = 1 pound)

Lately I have been seeing several versions of Mug Brownies pop up on Pinterest. In an effort to satisfy our sweet tooth and have brownies I thought I would give it a try. I changed ingredients (I always seem to when I cook) and made the calories as low calorie as I could without compromising taste.

This Mug Brownie is now 335 calories, which I know sounds like a lot, but compared to the alternative it's really not that bad. This Mug Brownie gives you a nice sized portion, it's super fast, and best of all there is no tempting leftovers hanging around! I hope you enjoy!

You will need:

2 tablespoons light butter

2 Tablespoons Splenda

4 Tablespoons Flour
2 Tablespoons Sugar
2 Tablespoons Cocoa powder
2 Tablespoons Water

And these directions can't be easier! First, melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a mug.
Pour in 2 tablespoons of Splenda,
4 tablespoons flour,
2 tablespoons of sugar,
2 tablespoons of cocoa powder,
and 2 tablespoons of cold water.
Now stir until somewhat smooth.
Pop into microwave for 50 seconds.
Remove from microwave and enjoy your chocolatey bliss!
And for those of you wanting the nutrition information:

Like this post?
Pin It

Healthy Oven Fried Chicken

There are moments where foods that are totally not healthy for you sound so delicious and you just can't resist them. I love my classic comfort foods: fried chicken & mashed potatoes, shepherd's pie, meatloaf, mac & cheese....etc. The other night I was CRAVING some fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and gravy. We are still on our eating healthy routine, so I tried to make a "healthier" version of fried chicken. Fried chicken, with no frying involved! The crumb coating I used to dip the chicken in cooked up crispy and delicious and kept the chicken very moist. I hope you enjoy! (My battery was dead on my camera, so the pic I found is very close on how it turned out...complete with my skin on mashed potatoes!)

source

1 cup Chex Rice cereal
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons light mayonnaise
2 egg whites
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 pound of boneless, skinless chicken breast

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
2. Line a baking sheet and place a metal cooling rack on top of it. (The key to a "crispy" chicken is to have air baking the chicken all around, including the bottom. The cooling rack will allow the heat to circulate.) Spray cooking rack with spray oil.
3. In a food processor, grind the cereal, panko crumbs, salt, peppers, and paprika. Place crumb mixture in a dish big enough to fit each chicken breast.
4. In a shallow bowl, mix the mayo, egg whites, and mustard together until somewhat smooth. (It's going to look gross.)
5. Dip each chicken breast (both sides) in the mayo mixture then into the crumb mixture until coated well.
6. Place each chicken breast on the cooling rack, not touching.
7. Bake for about 30-40 minutes, depending on the thickness of your chicken. A thermometer inserted in the thickest part chicken should be 160 degrees F.
8. Serve with some mashed potatoes and country gravy. YUMMY!!

The Skinny: Serves 4 @ 229 calories

Like this post?
Pin It

Best Low Calorie Snacks

I have said it before and I will say it again, I feel counting calories is pretty much the only way to lose weight. Now I am not a nutritionist, but I have lost all my college weight and baby weight this way (over 25 pounds each time) and I feel that this method really works! I know there are a lot of shakes, protein diets, and cleanses that people swear by, but I just can't see doing a diet that I can't keep up somewhat on a regular basis. Granted, I have never tried any of those other diets, but count calories just makes sense to me. As Dr. Laura always says, "More more, eat less."

With that said, I have 10 pounds to lose in this new year, thanks to my overindulgent eating over the holidays and the messed up scale (see post Things To Get Done In The New Year.)

In addition to my beloved MyFitnessPal,

source

I couldn't count calories without my list of low calorie snacky foods that help me make it through those moments of hunger/boredom.

Here is my list for the Best Low Calorie Snacks that will help you power through to your weight loss goals:

1. String Cheese
source

At around 80 calories per serving, string cheese is one of those foods that are great to eat on the go! It also has the benefits of adding protein and calcium to your diet.

2. Greek Yogurtsource

You can ask anyone, I love my yogurt. When I found out about Greek Yogurt, my love only grew stronger! This yogurt usually has about 15 to 20 grams of protein which is twice as much as regular yogurt. At around 140 calories per serving you can't go wrong!

3. Oatmeal

source

This is a little unconventional as healthy snack foods, but on days I am craving something sweet this seems to hit the spot. It only has 120 calories, usually fills me up for a while, and provides lots of vitamin A, fiber, and iron.

4. Air-Popped Popcorn
source

I love air-popped popcorn! This has become an almost nightly snack for me. The plain taste takes some time to get use to, but when you find out you can eat 4 cups of this at only 124 calories, you might want to give it a try.

5. Dove Dark Chocolate Miniatures
source

This too has become a nightly snack for me. I love chocolate and I usually eat 2-3 pieces of this chocolate a night. It seems just to be enough to stop me from running up to Dairy Queen for a blizzard. If you savor each piece you will be amazed at how it will curb your sweet tooth. Eating 3 pieces of this chocolate is only 126 calories.

6. Green Tea
source

There are moments throughout the day where you find that just want to eat out of boredom. I find them mostly when I am sitting on the couch watching TV. I have solved this problem by drinking a cup of green tea. Not only is it calorie free but it's also a calming part of my day to enjoy a nice cup of green tea. I know some people out there think it tastes bitter, but I ONLY buy the Bigelow Decaffeinated Green Tea because I have found many other brands are bitter. (An added bonus I have read lately is that green tea is suppose to help with fat loss!)

7. Cheerios
source

This really started when I was pregnant and I don't know why I never thought of it before. If I workout really hard during the day I have a problem of waking up in the middle of the night hungry. I have solved this problem by eating a bowl of cheerios with skim milk right before bed. It only has 150 calories (if measured to what it says on the box) and it seems to just help me make it through the night. Also, I don't seem to wake up as hungry when I eat before bed.

8. Cottage Cheese
source

My husband hates this stuff, but I love it. I am the only one eating it in the house, so when wanting some quick snack I grab a spoon and eat out of the container. I only buy the low-fat kind just to make sure I am not consuming large amount of calories. Eating 1/2 a cup is only 90 calories!

9. Hot Chocolate
source

On those days you are really craving chocolate, I love to enjoy a nice cup of hot chocolate. It's sweet, warm and just enjoyable to drink. I don't think I have ever seen someone drink hot chocolate angry and how could you at only 90 calories a cup!

10. Peanut Butter
source

I believe peanut butter can be both your friend and foe while dieting. Eating too much adds up the calories but eating a little can give you a little extra energy and keep you full for hours. I like to top a piece of 40 calorie whole wheat bread with 1 tablespoon of peanut butter, which ends up being about 140 calories.

That is my major snack food list while I work on losing this extra weight. Do you have any low calorie snack foods that you live by? If so, I would love to hear about them. I am always up for new ideas when counting calories. Please feel free to share below in the comments!