Week 3-Monday

Mexican Monday-- Santa Fe Casserole with Steamed Asparagus

taken from 6 Week Meal Planning

What you will need:
1/2 cup red onion, chopped
1 tablespoon garlic
1/2 tablespoon EVOO
Pinch of salt
1/2 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 tablespoon pepper
1/2 can red beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
3/4 cup milk
1 and 1/2 cup brown rice, cooked-We used a steamer bag HOWEVER! Jason forgot to put it in the mix!
2 eggs, beaten
1 and 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 large green pepper, chopped

Direction
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees and spray a casserole dish with EVOO spray.
2. In a skillet, cook the onion, garlic, and EVOO on Medium High until tender.  Add the salt and chili powder.
3. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the pepper, milk, beans, COOKED brown rice, eggs, cheddar cheese, and green pepper.
4. Pour mixture into casserole dish and sprinkle with extra pepper.
5. Bake casserole for 25 minutes or until center is firm.
6. Let cool 5 minutes and serve.

ENJOY!
 
Steamed Asparagus

Stars

Jessie: 2.5 out of 5
Jason: 2.0 out of 5
*Our ratings could be different if we would have actually cooked the meal it was suppose to be. 

Thoughts:
It took us about 45 minutes from start to ready to serve.  Jason said he gave this meal a 2.0 because the casserole was runny, he put too much water in the tea he made and he forgot the rice! I thought it was ok. I would like to try it again and mix the rice. I think the rice would really help it set up. The flavor overall wasn't too bad but it was a little on the spicy side. Overall the meal was pretty easy and ok.

2012 Summer Transformation
Weight: Since I didn't weigh in since May 31st I was a little scared to get on the scale but it wasn't so bad. Monday is my official weigh in day I'm down 1.5 total since starting so I only gained 1 pound over two weeks which I will take with the way that I ate. 
Water: 48 oz...I need to get back on track!
Breakfast: 2 pieces white Goldfish bread with peanut butter and a banana
Lunch: chips and queso dip
Snack: am-nothing
           pm-Nature Valley Sweet & Salty Nut Granola Bar
Dinner: Santa Fe Casserole with Steamed Asparagus
Exercise: 50 minutes of water zumba-our normal teacher was gone so we had a sub
Sleep: I went to bed a bit late last night since we were watching the MIA/BOS basketball game. I think it was around 11:30 when I finally fell asleep then I was up at 6:30am so I still got 7 hours of sleep which isn't bad.

Saucy Lady BBQ

The second barbeque we had while we were back in Kansas was from Saucy Lady BBQ in Osage City. We have been wanting to try the Saucy Lady BBQ for a while so we were very excited to find out Gail would be open while we were back! Saucy Lady BBQ is sold out of a traveling trailer and can be found in the parking lot of Lohmeyers Haircuts most Fridays.

On this particular Friday Gail had several things on the menu so it made it difficult to choose but Jason and I ended up choosing three different items to share. We had Pulled Pork Nachos with White Cheese Sauce, Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich and a Pulled Pork Sandwich.

Pulled Pork Nachos with White Cheese Sauce

Ok, I know what you are thinking, pulled pork on chips with white sauce...really?!? That was my thought too but it was AMAZING! I seriously could have eaten the whole thing by myself and wanted more! The pork was very good but the white sauce was what made them very YUMMY!

 Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich

Several regulars at Saucy Lady BBQ told us we HAD to get the Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich so if the regulars say it is the best then that is what we shall have! The Philly Cheese Steak was just as the regulars said it was very good and full of flavor!

 Pulled Pork Sandwich

And finally, of course when you are at any BBQ joint you have to try the traditional sandwich. We already knew the pulled pork was good from the nachos but what made this sandwich great was the bun. I'm not sure exactly what kind of bun it was but is had a honey taste to it which made it very savory.

It has now been over a week since we had Saucy Lady BBQ and I'm still craving the Pulled Pork Nachos with White Cheese Sauce! We will be heading back to Osage a few more times this summer and several times this fall so I'm hoping we will be able to enjoy some Saucy Lady BBQ the next time we are back! If you are ever around Osage City on a Friday at lunch time you should swing by Lohmeyers Haircuts parking lot and get some very good BBQ!

**As a side note please pardon the quality and back drop of the pictures. The pictures were taken on my cellphone so they are not the best quality and back drop was the back of the boat! We had taken the boat to the car wash and walked down to get the BBQ then went back to wash the boat while we ate our lunch. Nothing like a makeshift table for some small town BBQ!**

Oklahome Joe's Barbeque

Our first stop when we got to Kansas was Oklahoma Joe's Barbeque one of our favorite places and arguably the best barbeque in Kansas! Oklahoma Joe's currently has two locations and will be opening a third soon! We we able to visit both of their current locations while we were home on this trip (I told you it was good BBQ)!

I get the same thing every single time (for those of you know me well this is absolutely no surprise!). I get a sandwich called a Z Man, which is one of their most famous sandwiches. It is brisket, smoked provolone topped with two onion rings and barbeque sauce on a kaiser bun. So good!

Z Man

Jason usually gets a half slab of rib dinner which comes with the ribs, one side and Texas toast. As a side we usually get fries but their baked beans are also very yummy! Jason loves the Texas toast but since Kinley has been eating real food he has had to learn to share! The ribs are cook absolutely perfect! They don't fall off the bone with you pick them up but as soon as you bite into the meat the do fall off the bone. The meat is cook just right as well.

Finally the fries. The is just ONE order! More than enough for two and a half people to share. They have a seasoning on them that makes them melt-in-your-month-yummy!

After we finished lunch we headed over to their new store which has all of their barbeque sauces, rubs and a huge variety of grills and smokers. We picked up some of their signature sauce, which just became available for purchase, and some of their chicken rub.

All of these pictures are from our stop at the restaurant on 119th and Strang Line. On our way home we stopped at the original location in a gas station on 47th and Mission. Of course we had the same exact meal and again to no surprise is was just as good!

If you are ever in the KC area make sure you stop by one of the locations and enjoy some yummy barbeque!

We're back!

Hello! So as I told you clear back on May 22nd we would be taking a bit of a hiatus. Basically from the 19th on we had commitments at dinner time so we were unable to eat at home. Here is the quick rundown:
19th: Kinley's birthday
20th: volleyball
21st and 22nd: Cedar Falls baseball game
23rd: we were packing
24th through 30th: Kansas!

And we have been too lazy to go grocery shopping since. We are ready to start the 6 Week Meal Planning again on Monday so be ready because this week sounds super yummy!

While we were in Kansas we were able to eat some very yummy barbeque so I thought I would spend the next couple of days telling you all about the food so stay tuned for all the details! Happy Saturday!

6 Week Meal Plan hiatus

Hello there lovely followers! We took a little hiatus from the 6 Week Meal Planning for Saturday and Sunday of this week but I promise it was for a good reason! Saturday was Miss Kinley's 2nd birthday so we spend the day celebrating with her! You can read all about the fun on our family blog Stinson Family Adventures. Sunday we spend the day lounging around the house then Jason and I played three games of sand volleyball. We are hoping to be back at the meal planning tomorrow but it might have to wait until Tuesday because we are suppose to go to a high school baseball game on Monday night. We will keep you all posted!

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend!

Week 2-Friday

Fish Friday-- Fish Tacos and Oven Roasted Corn
taken from 6 Week Meal Planning 

What you will need:

1 pound boneless & skinless tilapia fillets, cut into 2-inch pieces, rinsed & patted dry
olive oil, salt and pepper
3/4 cup sour cream
3/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons fresh salsa
12 corn or flour tortillas, warmed
1 1/2 cups shredded cabbage-We used shredded lettuce
Optional garnishes: cheese, cilantro, lime, avocado

Direction

1. Heat broiler, with rack in highest position. Place fish on rimmed baking sheet; drizzle with olive oil & season with salt and pepper. Broil until fish is lightly browned on top, 5-10 minutes, until flesh is opaque throughout.
2. Meanwhile in a small bowl, mix sour cream with 2 Tablespoons fresh salsa.
3. Divide fish evenly among tortillas and top with shredded cabbage, sour cream and fresh salsa.

ENJOY!

**We skipped the Oven Roasted Corn because we already had a bag of Steamer corn so we had that instead. If we were to make this meal again we would defiantly try the corn!

Stars
Jessie: 3.0 out of 5
Jason: 2.83 out of 5

Thoughts:
This meal was very quick and simple to make. Jason said he gave this meal a 2.83 because he doens't know. He said it was alright, he had never had it before and it was ok. I would say I thought the meal was ok. The reason I say it was ok it because I just really don't like fish. I'm hoping the more times I have fish then maybe, just maybe I will get over my dislike of it! I thought the mixture of sour cream and salsa was yummy and I'm not a huge sour cream fan. I think with out that mixture then it wouldn't have been has tasty. Overall a pretty health meal and fairly simple to make so we will more than likely make it again.

2012 Summer Transformation
Weight: gained 1 pound
Water: 48 ounces...I did terrible today! I have to be more disciplined this weekend than last!  
Breakfast: 2 pieces whole wheat Goldfish bread with peanut butter and a banana
Lunch: left over chili and 1 cup low-fat cottage cheese
Snack: am-none (I was really regretting that during hydro-fit! I was starving!)
           pm-slice of banana chocolate chip bread
Dinner: Fish Tacos and corn
Exercise: 50 minutes of Hydro-fit
Sleep: Bed at 11:30pm and up at 6:45am.

Week 2-Thursday

Slow-cooker Thursday--Tony's Slow-Cooker Chili with Cornbread
taken from 6 Week Meal Planning 

What you will need:
16 oz ground beef

1 cup chopped onions (1 large)-Some how we didn't get this at the store so we left this out
1/2 cup chopped green sweet pepper 

2 garlic cloves minced
2-3 tablespoons of Frank's Red Hot-We used Hot Shot insted
1/8 cup of sugar

One 14 1/2 ounce can of diced tomatoes
One 15 oz can dark red kidney beans - rinsed and drained
One 8 oz can of tomato sauce
2-3 teaspoons of chili powder
1/2 teaspoon of dried basil
1/4 teaspoon of pepper

Direction
1. In a large saucepan cook ground beef, onion, sweet pepper, sugar and garlic till meat is brown and onion is tender. Drain fat. 

2. Stir in undrained tomatoes, kidney beans, tomato sauce, Frank's Red Hot, chili powder, basil, and pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Makes about 5 cups.

ENJOY!

Cornbread
What you will need
1 cup flour
1 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
1 cup plain nonfat yogurt-Make sure to get 2 containers or one that is 8 oz. The one that I got was only 6 oz and I think that 2 oz made a difference.
2 eggs, beaten


Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease an 8x8 inch baking pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix flour, cornmeal, sugar, soda and salt. Stir in yogurt and eggs. Do not over mix, stir only until well blended. Pour batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the center of the bread springs back when gently pressed.
 

Stars
Jessie: 2.75 out of 5
Jason: 2.5 out of 5

Thoughts:
It didn't take too much time mix everything and get it ready to go, I would say about 30 minutes tops. Jason said he gave this meal a 2.5 because it was not his chili. I liked the meal but definitely didn't love it. The chili was a bit spicy (it called for 2-3 table spoons of hot sauce and 2-3 table spoons of chili powder) I only used two of each but HOLY COW it was spicy! Overall a easy meal that was flavorful/spicy and we would eat it again.

2012 Summer Transformation
Weight: lost 1/2 pound
Water: 72 ounces 
Breakfast: 2 pieces whole wheat Goldfish bread with peanut butter and a banana
Lunch: Roast beef sandwich, pasta salad, chips, and a cookie
Snack: am-none
           pm-Nature Valley Sweet & Salty Nut Granola Bar
Dinner: Tony's Slow-Cooker Chili with Cornbread
Exercise: none
Sleep: Bed at 11:30pm and up at 6:15am.

Week 2-Wednesday

Chicken Wednesday--Jessie's (not me) Chicken and Grain Salad with steamed broccoli
taken from 6 Week Meal Planning 

What you will need:

3 cups chicken broth-On the shopping list it just said chicken broth and I didn't look to see how much for today so I only bought one can and we needed two to I just substituted water for the other half.
1.5 cups couscous-We substituted for whole grain rice in a Steamer bag
Handful chopped fresh parsley-We forgot this also so we used parsley flakes
1 tsp thyme
2 cups frozen peas
Small bunch of scallions, thinly sliced (into some of the greens)-We didn't buy enough scallions so we omitted this
½ bell pepper, diced
2 cups cooked chicken, diced
¼ cup raisins-We didn't have any raisins so I used craisins instead.
¼ cup chopped nuts
1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
2Tbsp lemon juice
2Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp curry powder (mild)
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

2 heads broccoli, steamed-We left the broccoli out since it didn't seem to go with this meal.

Direction

1. In a large pot, bring broth to a boil. Add couscous, parsley, and thyme and cook the mixture for 30 seconds (yes seconds not minutes). Remove pan from heat, cover, and let the couscous stand for 5 minutes.
2. Place peas, scallions, bell pepper, chicken, raisins, nuts, and garbanzo beans in a large bowl. This is your “goodies” bowl.
3. In a small bowl, combine the lemon juice, curry powder, oil, and fresh ground pepper. Pour this mixture over the goodies bowl and toss to combine well.
4. Toss your now deliciously flavored goody bowl contents into your big pot with the grain and mix it all up well.You can serve it warm now, or refrigerate and serve cold.

ENJOY!

This is only half of the meal!
It defiantly made more than enough for four people

Stars
Jessie: 3 out of 5
Jason: 2.5 out of 5

Thoughts:
Jason and I split the cooking with this meal; he made the chicken and I did all the mixing. It took us about 30 minutes from start to ready to serve.  Jason said he gave this meal a 2.5 because it was like the "rice bowls" he makes but with more stuff. He expected it to be better and said it lacked flavor. I thought the meal was ok. Jason is right, it was a lot like our "rice bowls" but with more stuff which I liked. I wasn't thrilled with it but I would eat it again. As you can see from above we didn't do a great job of shopping this week. So far the shopping list for this week wasn't as good as the first week. During week one we bought everything on the list just as it was written, this week we did the same however it was less specific about the quantity of things we needed so we ended up short on several items on this meal. We also chose not to cook the broccoli as a side with this because it didn't make sense. If we were to have this meal again I would serve it with some sort of fruit or something like that as a side.

2012 Summer Transformation
Weight: lost 1/2 pound
Water: 120 ounces 
Breakfast: 2 pieces whole wheat Goldfish bread with peanut butter and a banana
Lunch: Left over Pasta with Meat Sauce, side salad
Snack: am-Cottage Cheese and Nature Valley Sweet & Salty Nut Granola Bar
           pm-Cheese & grapes and a Diet Coke
Dinner: Jessie's Chicken and Grain Salad
Exercise: 50 minutes of Hydro-fit
Sleep: Bed at 11:30pm and up at 6:45am.

Week 2- Tuesday

Pasta Tuesday--Pasta with Meat Sauce and Salad
taken from 6 Week Meal Planning

What you will need:

1 package pasta noodle-We used Whole Wheat spiral ones
1 lb. lean ground turkey
2 8oz cans tomato sauce
1/2 tbsp. oregano
1/4 tbsp. basil
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
Parmesan chees

Direction

1. Cook pasta according to package directions

2. Brown turkey, drain fat and add garlic powder

3. Add tomato sauce, oregano and basil to meat and simmer on low heat for 5 minutes

4. Serve sauce over pasta and add cheese

ENJOY!

Salad

What you will need:

1 bag spinach or romaine salad mix

2 small tomatoes, chopped-We skipped this!

1 cucumber, chopped-We skipped this!

baby carrots, chopped-We skipped this!

dressing of your choice- I added cottage cheese and a small amount of ranch 

****No pictures tonight because I totally forgot! Opps! I promise to be better about taking pictures as we are making the meals!****

Stars
Jessie: 3.5 out of 5
Jason: 3.95 out of 5

Thoughts:
It took about an 30 minutes from start to ready to serve. Jason said he gave it a 3.95 because it was like one of our regular meals and it was good. He was surprised that the sauce turned out better than he expected. I thought the meal was ok, nothing to exciting. Kind of like Jason said this is something that we eat on a pretty regular basis except for using turkey meat (which you can't tell any difference) and the "home-made" meat sauce. We also chose to have a regular lettuce salad (lettuce, cheese and a few other things we each put on our salad) over making the salad that was suggested.

2012 Summer Transformation
Weight: No change...better than gaining!
Water: 120 ounces 
Breakfast: 2 pieces sandwich thin whole wheat bread with peanut butter and a banana
Lunch: Left over Black Bean and Cheese Quesadillas, cottage cheese and a Diet Coke
Snack: am-Nature Valley Sweet & Salty Nut Granola Bar
           pm-low-fat chocolate chip muffin
Dinner: Pasta with Meat Sauce and Salad
Exercise: 50 minutes of Total Sculpt & Tone
Sleep: Bed at 11:30pm and up at 6:45am but then I stayed home with a headache today so I slept on and off throughout the morning.

Week 2- Monday

Mexican Monday-- Black Bean, Spinach & Cheese Quesadillas with Cilantro Rice

taken from 6 Week Meal Planning

What you will need:
Non-stick cooking spray
1 C chopped onion
3 C torn spinach- We didn't use spinach
4 low-fat flour tortillas (8-inch size)
1 C canned black beans
1 C shredded cheddar cheese
Mango peach salsa

Direction

1. Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray; place over medium­ high heat until hot. Add onion; saute 4 minutes. Add spinach; saute 1 minute or until spinach is wilted. Remove from pan. Wipe pan with a paper towel.-We skipped this step
2. Coat pan with cooking spray; place over medium heat until hot. Place one tortilla in pan. Cook 1 minute or until bottom of tortilla is golden. Sprinkle spinach mixture, beans, and cheese over one side of tortilla. Fold tortilla in half. - We used two tortillas and cut them into 1/4 pieces
3. Cook tortilla 1 minute on each side or until golden and cheese melts. Repeat procedure with remaining tortillas, spinach mixture, beans, and cheese.
ENJOY!
 
Rice
What you will need:
Rice-We used a Steamer bag of whole wheat rice
2/3 cup cilantro, loosely packed
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped scalions
1 jalapeno (or to taste)
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp olive oil

Directions
Cook rice per directions
Puree the above in a blender, add to the cooked rice, stir well.

Dressing for the rice

The meal

Stars

Jessie: 4.5 out of 5
Jason: 4.75 out of 5

Thoughts:
It took us about 30 minutes from start to ready to serve.  Jason said he gave this meal a 4.75 because the rice wasn't cooked like he liked it. He said he loved the rest of the meal just didn't like the rice because it was undercooked. I enjoyed this meal except for the rice but I don 't like rice to begin with so I should have probably gave it a 5 and forgot the rice. I didn't think I liked black beans but you couldn't even taste them so that was great! I also added sour cream and 100 calorie wholly guacamole and those two mixed with the Mango Peach Salsa was AMAZING! Overall a very easy meal and very filling.

2012 Summer Transformation
Weight: Since I didn't weigh in yesterday I'm not sure about gain/loss from yesterday but Monday is my official weigh in day so last week I lost 2.5 pounds! Yeah! Only 17.5 more until my tattoo!
Water: 120 finally back on track! 
Breakfast: 2 pieces sandwich thin whole wheat bread with peanut butter and a banana
Lunch: Left over Turkey Loaf with all the sides
Snack: am-Nature Valley Sweet & Salty Nut Granola Bar
           pm-Cherry Diet Coke and a slice of banana chocolate chip bread
Dinner: Black Bean, Spinach & Cheese Quesadillas with Cilantro Rice
Exercise: 50 minutes of Hydro-fit
Sleep: I went to bed a bit late last night since we didn't get home from playing volleyball until after 10:30 so it was probably like 11:00 before I got into bed however I didn't get up until a little after 7:00am so I still got 8 hours of sleep.

Week 1-Sunday

Sunday Funday--Tangy Chicken Burgers

taken from 6 Week Meal Planning 

What you will need:

16 ounces extra lean ground chicken breast
1 egg white
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
4 green onions, chopped (greens and whites)
1/4 cup whole-wheat breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons Barbecue Sauce
2 tablespoons plain low-fat yogurt
2 cups arugula, chopped
4 whole-wheat sandwich thins or buns

Direction

1. Place the ground chicken, egg white, breadcrumbs, parsley, green onions, and spices in a mixing bowl. Gently knead to combine. Form into four burgers.
2. Preheat a nonstick skillet or cast iron pan. Spray with nonstick cooking spray. Grill burgers 12-14 minutes, turning halfway through cooking, or until the internal temperature reaches 180 degrees Fahrenheit.-We grilled the burgers and it took about 10 minutes to cook
3. Combine yogurt with the Barbecue Sauce, then toss the greens in the sauce. Place a burger on a sandwich thin and top with the greens.
Makes 4 burgers with 1/2 cup greens per burger.

ENJOY!

We served the burgers with  the left over sweet potato fries from Fish Friday because our tomatoes had gone bad so we couldn't make the Cucumber Salad.

The burgers

The dressing

And OPPS! I was so hungry I totally forgot to take a picture until we were done eating!

Stars
Jessie: 4.5 out of 5
Jason: 4.5 out of 5

Thoughts:
It took us about 45 minutes from start to ready to serve.  Jason said he gave this meal a 4.5 because it we had sweet potato fries as the side and he doesn't like those kind of fries. As far as the burgers go they were GREAT! He even ate two of them! I enjoyed this meal. It is a great alternative to having a hamburger when you want to grill out. I really enjoyed the lettuce mixture to have on the burger. Overall a very easy meal and would have again when we want to grill out.

2012 Summer Transformation
Weight: I forgot to weigh in! Since it was Mother's Day I got to sleep in and once I got up Jason had breakfast ready so it totally slipped my mind. 
Water: 0! I don't think I drank any water! How bad!
Breakfast: Chocolate Chip pancakes 
Lunch: God Fathers Pizza buffet
Snack: am-no snack
           pm-no snack
Dinner: Tangy Chicken Burgers and sweet potato fries
Exercise: 3 games of volleyball
Sleep: I can't remember anything about my sleep from Saturday night. I was feeling like crap, my allergies were out of control from doing the 4-mile run through the trails so I remember staying awake long enough to see the beginning of Saturday Night Life but I don't really remember much after that I'm guessing I was asleep before 11:00pm. I did get to sleep in on Sunday morning since it was Mother's Day!

Week 1-Saturday

Sanity-Saving Saturday--Turkey Loaf
taken from 6 Week Meal Planning 

What you will need:

Cooking spray
2 large eggs
2 Tbsp brown mustard
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 cup ketchup, divided
2 lb lean ground turkey
3/4 cup Italian-style seasoned bread crumbs

Direction

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat an 10 by 5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Add the mustard, oregano, thyme, salt, pepper, and 1/2 cup ketchup; stir. Add the turkey and bread crumbs; mix until combined. (Don't overmix, or the meatloaf will turn out dry.)
3. Transfer the mixture to the baking dish into a 10 by 5-inch loaf. Spread the remaining ketchup evenly over the top.
4. Bake until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the loaf registers 165°F, about 45 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

ENJOY!

                                    Sauce                                              Meat in the pan

 Meat with the ketchup

Potatoes

What you will need:

1 1/2 lbs (about 5 medium) potatoes

2 T butter

1/2 cup milk

Direction

1. Wash, peel and cube potatoes

2. Put potatoes into a saucepan. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add water until potatoes are covered. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, 15-20 minutes, or until done - a fork can easily be poked through them.

3. Drain potatoes, add milk and butter, mash

Corn

We used a Steamer bag of corn

Stars
Jessie: 6 out of 5
Jason: 5 out of 5

Thoughts:
It took us right at an hour from start to ready to serve.  Jason said he gave this meal a 5 because it is was "his kind of meal" so I guess that is a good thing. I loved this meal! The meatloaf was so flavorful, I'm almost sure I could have eaten the WHOLE thing but I restrained myself and only had one portion! This meal was the ultimate "comfort meal" for me and reminded me of my childhood and my grandma's house on a Saturday night. Overall a very easy meal and very flavorful.

Even Beasley tried to get some of our yummy dinner!

2012 Summer Transformation
Weight: lost 1 1/2 pound 
Water: ??? ounces- I had a hard time keeping track of water today. I'm guessing I might have gotten 64 ounces down?
Breakfast: 2 pieces sandwich thin whole wheat bread with peanut butter and a banana
Lunch: Rudy's Tacos-I had some chips with melted cheese and a cheese quesidilla 
Snack: am-no snack
           pm-no snack
Dinner: Turkey loaf, mashed potatoes and corn
Exercise: none- 4 Mile Run Like A Mother run/walk in 60 minutes-This was the first ever 4 mile race I have done. The whole race was on trails in Cedar Falls so tonight my allergies are going crazy tonight. Overall I would say I enjoyed it but it was a little disorganized so that was frustrating. But I would like to do it again next year to see if I can beat my time.
Sleep: bed at 10:30pm and was asleep not long after and got up at 6:45am so I got about 8 hours of sleep. I slept pretty good and I don't think I even had to get up and go to the bathroom!

Week 1-Friday

Fish Friday--Honey-Soy Glazed Salmon
taken from 6 Week Meal Planning 

What you will need:

1 skinless salmon fillet- about 1 lb (cut into 3 pieces)
1 bushel asparagus
1 T honey
1 T soy sauce
Sea Salt
Black pepper
1 bag frozen sweet potato fries

Direction

Steam asparagus until soft-We decided to grill the asparagus following these directions
In a separate dish, mix together honey and soy sauce
**We chose not to follow the directions below but rather these directions for cooking

Place salmon fillets and cooked asparagus on baking sheet lined with tinfoil sprayed with EVOO
Season fish and veggies with sea salt and pepper
Broil for 5 minutes (remove from oven)
Drizzle 2/3 honey/soy micture over fish and veggies

Broil another 2-5 minutes (2 for medium cooked, 5 for well-done)
Drizzle remain mixture over fish-We do this step

ENJOY!

Sweet Potato Fries
While the salmon is cooking put the fries in the oven- the fries we got had to cook for 15 minutes  

Stars
Jessie: 4 out of 5
Jason: 4.25 out of 5

Thoughts:
It took us right at an hour from start to ready to serve. The salmon had to marinate for 15 minutes on each side so while that was marinating Jason got the asparagus ready. Jason said it was difficult do do all three (salmon, asparagus and fries all at the same time). Jason said he gave this meal a 4.25 because he didn't like the sweet potato fries. He also said he thought he could improve the salmon by cooking it more often. I liked this meal, I would almost say I really liked it if it wasn't for the fish. The whole meal was very yummy and very flavorful. I know that we are eating fish so of course it is going to taste like fish so I'm just going to have to get over that. The glaze on the salmon was AMAZING! I would defiantly eat this meal again and I'm hoping the more times I have it that I will get over my dislike of fish! Overall a very flavorful and pretty simple to make meal that we will make again.

2012 Summer Transformation
Weight: gained 1.5 pounds 
Water: 138 ounces
Breakfast: 2 pieces white Goldfish bread with peanut butter and a banana
Lunch: Hamburger and a small salad
Snack: am- 1 cup low fat cottage cheese
           pm-cubed American and Swiss cheese and  grapes, a mini butterfinger candy
Dinner: Honey-Soy Glazed Salmon, asparagus and sweet potato fried
Exercise: 50 minutes of Hydro-fit-This class is going to be a lot of fun. I will start by saying the average age was about 65 and if you were to take Ashley and I out it would probably go up to 70! I'm sure it is a good work out but I will say when I get done I don't feel like I really worked that hard. It is a class where I don't get my heart rate up that much but at least it is 50 minutes of movement so that is better than sitting at my desk right?!? Either way I think the class is going to be a lot of fun!
Sleep: bed at 9:30pm and was asleep by 10:00 (I only know this because I didn't see the news again for a second night!) and got up at 6:35am so I got about 8.5 hours of sleep. I slept pretty good and I don't think I even had to get up and go to the bathroom!

Week 1-Thursday

Slow-cooker Thursday--Slow-cooker Curried Chicken with Ginger and Yogurt
taken from 6 Week Meal Planning 

What you will need:
1/3 C tomato paste
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 T curry powder
1 T grated fresh ginger
1 tsp ground cumin
3/4 C water
1 medium onion, chopped
2 lbs bonless, skinless chicken thighs (about 10)
Kosher salt
Black peper
1 1/2 C long-grain white rice-we used whole grain rice
1/2 C plain while-milk Greek yogurt
2 scallions, thinly sliced

Direction
In a 4 to 6 quart slow cooker, whisk together the tomato paste, garlic, curry powder, ginger, cumin and 3/4 cup of water. Add the onion and stir to combine. Place the chicken on tome and season with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper
Cover and cook until the chicken is tender, on low for 7 to 8 hours or on high for 3 to 4 hours- ours was done cooking in 5 hours on low and we didn't eat for another 3 hours so the chicken was a little tough
Twenty minutes before serving cook the rice according to the package
Just before serving, add the yogurt and 1/2 teaspoon salt to the chicken and stir to combine.

ENJOY!

 Ready to go in the crock pot

Broccoli 
One bag of Steamers broccoli

Stars
Jessie: 2.5 out of 5
Jason: 3.75 out of 5

Thoughts:
It didn't take too much time mix everything and get it ready to go in the crock pot or to add the ingredients at the end. Jason said he gave this meal a 3.75 because it was OK but not great. I liked the meal but definitely didn't love it. I think for me it was a texture thing and a look thing. It had a good taste but the overall look made my stomach do flips. Overall a easy meal that was flavorful and we might eat again.

2012 Summer Transformation
Weight: lost 2 pounds 
Water: 122 ounces
Breakfast: 2 pieces white Goldfish bread with peanut butter and a banana
Lunch: leftovers Cheeseless Pasta Bake and Nature Valley Sweet & Salty Nut Granola Bar
Snack: am-1 cup nonfat cottage cheese
           pm-slice of banana chocolate chip bread
Dinner: Slow-cooker Curried Chicken with Ginger and Yogurt and broccoli
Exercise: 50 minutes of Total Sculpt and Tone-today was our first class and it was a great workout! We did some arms, squats, and ab work.
Sleep: last night I went to bed at 9:30pm and was asleep by 10:00 (I only know this because I didn't see the news!) and got up at 6:45am so I got about 9 hours of sleep. I slept ok, I had some weird dreams but overall I felt rested. -NEW CATEGORY I'm adding sleep as a new category since sleep can play a big role in the success or failure of weight loss.I am going to try to track what time I go to bed and get up and how I slept so I can see if there is any pattern.

Week 1-Wednesday

Chicken Wednesday--Lemon Pepper Chicken
taken from 6 Week Meal Planning 

What you will need:

2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breast or 3-4 lb. full chicken
1/4 C. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 lemons or 1/2 lemon juice
3 tsp. minces garlic
1 tsp. ground black pepper
Salt

Direction

Preheat grill to 500 degrees
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the EVOO, lemon, garlic and black peper.
Season the chicken well with salt and toss into a bowl. Marinate the chicken for 15 minutes.
Grill chicken until marked and cooked through, 8-10 minutes per side.
Squeeze the juice of the reaming lemon over the cooked chicken

ENJOY!

You can also roast the chicken and here are those directions:
Preheat oven to 450ºF
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the EVOO, lemon, garlic and black peper.
Season the chicken well with salt and toss into a bowl. Marinate the chicken for 15 minutes.
Put chicken in a large, cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat with 2 turns of the pan of EVOO, about 2 tablespoons. Sear the chicken, meat side-down until golden brown, about 5 minutes, then turn over and transfer the pan to the oven. Roast until cooked through, about 15 minutes.

Potatoes 

What you will need:

2-3 large potatoes, washed, peeled and chopped-I didn't peel them because we like the skin
1/2 an onion, chopped
Butter, margarine (or Earth Balance if you're dairy free) to taste-I used 2 tablespoons and it seems to be perfect
Baby carrots, chopped and steamed

Direction
Put the potatoes, onion and butter in pan and fry

Carrots
Baby carrots, chopped and steamed-we boiled the carrots for 10 minutes and they were perfect

Stars
Jessie: 5 out of 5
Jason: 3.87 out of 5

Thoughts:
Jason and I split the cooking with this meal; he made the chicken and I did the potatoes and carrots. It took us right at an hour from start to ready to serve.  Jason said he gave this meal a 3.87 because it is not quite a four (hopefully that was helpful to someone!). I loved this meal! This is actually a meal we have eaten before minus the carrots so it seemed like a "normal" meal to me. We used frozen chicken breast since that is what we had on hand but in the future I would use fresh and I don't think it would have been quite as dry. Overall a very easy meal and very flavorful.

2012 Summer Transformation
Weight: gained 1/2 pound 
Water: 118 ounces
Breakfast: 2 pieces white Goldfish bread with peanut butter and a banana-I ran out of my Skippy reduced fat peanut butter so I borrowed some Sunflower butter from my co-worker. It was pretty good but very oily/watery so I think I will go back to my regular stuff tomorrow!
Lunch: leftovers Cheeseless Pasta Bake and 1 cup low fat cottage cheese
Snack: am-no snack
           pm-slice of banana chocolate chip bread
Dinner: Lemon Pepper Chicken, fried potatoes and cooked carrots
Exercise: none- I missed my first workout class, Hydro-fit, because I left my bag at home! Tomorrow starts Total Sculpt and Tone

Week 1-Tuesday

Pasta Tuesday--Cheeseless Pasta Bake and Salad
taken from 6 Week Meal Planning 

What you will need:

2 cups cooked whole wheat pasta-We used Healthy Harvest Rotini
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup hummus-We used Wild Garden Traditional
1/4 red pepper, chopped thinly
10 leaves of fresh basil, chopped
1 large handful of grape tomatoes, chopped
1/3 tablespoon pepper
Sprinkle of salt
Pasta sauce to top-We used Prego

Direction

Preheat oven to 375 and grease three small ramekins-We don't have ramekins so we used an 8x8 baking dish
Cook pasta according to box and drain
While pasta is cooking: chop up red pepper, fresh basil, grape tomatoes and beat eggs
In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except for pasta sauce
Pour mix evening into ramekins and bake at 375 for 25 minutes or until egg is firm
Remove from oven and drizzle with pasta sauce

ENJOY!

 This is the half of the dish we didn't eat

Salad

What you will need:

1 bag spinach or romaine salad mix

2 small tomatoes, chopped

1 cucumber, chopped

baby carrots, chopped

dressing of your choice- I added cottage cheese and a small amount of ranch 

 This is the half of the salad we didn't eat

Stars

Jessie: 3 out of 5
Jason: 2.5 out of 5

Thoughts:
Jason made the meal tonight since I had to be at a board meeting until about 8:00pm. Jason got to eat the meal right out of the oven whereas I warmed it up in the microwave. It took about an hour from start to ready to serve and there was lots of chopping involved. Jason said he gave it a 2.5 since there was no meat but if it was served again he would eat it. I really enjoyed the pasta even though mine was reheated but the salad wasn't my favorite. I gave it a try but I just really don't like carrots, tomatoes or cucumbers. I would defiantly have the pasta again but I would serve it with just a lettuce salad none of the veggies. 

2012 Summer Transformation
Weight: down 2 pounds 
Water: 133 ounces
Breakfast: 2 pieces white Goldfish bread with peanut butter and a banana
Lunch: leftovers Turkey Tacos and a low fat chocolate chip muffin
Snack: am-1 cup low fat cottage cheese
           pm-slice of banana chocolate chip bread
Dinner: Cheeseless pasta bake and salad
Exercise: none

Week 1-Monday

Mexican Monday--Turkey Tacos with rice
taken from 6 Week Meal Planning 

What you will need:

Lean ground turkey-1 lb.

Whole Wheat tortillas--I used regular because we already had them and I couldn't see wasting them

Taco season package

Mango Peach Salsa-I couldn't find this at the store so we used regular taco sauce

Shredded lettuce

Shredded cheddar cheese

2 tomatoes chopped

1 cup brown rice or package of instance rice-I used Uncle Ben's 90 second microwave rice

Direction

Brown ground turkey, drain

Add 2/3 cup of water and taco season mix to meat and let simmer

While the meat is simmering cook rice and warm tortillas in the oven or microwave

Add meat, rice, cheese, lettuce, tomtoes and salsa to tortillas

ENJOY!

I would give this meal 5 out of 5 stars! It only took 20 minutes from start to ready to serve on the table. We eat a lot of beef in my family and have never tried turkey as a substitute so we were a little nervous about how it would taste, look, etc. but we could not taste the difference and since the meat was browned it looked just like beef. The other positive thing about using turkey meat was there was little to no grease. The meal was also very filling and we had leftovers for lunch on Tuesday.

2012 Summer Transformation
Water: 72 ounces
Breakfast: 2 pieces white Goldfish bread with peanut butter
Lunch: had leftover Olive Garden and a piece of pizza
Snack: Apple fruit bar
Dinner: Turkey Taco's
Exercise: none

2012 Summer Transformation--The plan!

The 2012 Summer Transformation has six things I want to really work very hard on this summer:
1. Water-get at least 64 ounces each day
2. Eat breakfast EVERYDAY!
3. Bring my lunch to work
4. Make good snack choices
5. Cook dinner at home
6. Exercise at least five days a week

I am going to attempt to blog everyday about the meal we made and how I am doing on the six things listed above.

Today, Monday, May 7th is day one and here are the beginning pictures:

I posted this back in January but I wanted to share it again:

As a side note I finally gave in and got a Pinterest account, you can find my pins here, so many of the things I will be blogging about have come from the great ideas I found on there.This is one of those ideas:

I made two jars as you can see. One says Pounds to go and the other says Pounds lost. To be at the ideal weight for me, in my eyes not the eyes of that stupid height weight chart, I would like to lose 61.5 pounds. Each stone in the Pounds to go jar represents half of a pound so there are 123 stones in that jar. Hopefully each week I will be able to move stones over to the Pounds lost and soon enough all the stones will be in that jar!