November 18th...Taking the Week Off Of Bloggjng.

Isn't blog tomorrow, but as of now, I am taking a little break. If you haven't downloaded Lose It from the App Store, so it! It works! I am down 6.2 lbs as of today. 

Until next week,

Angela 

November 13th...My Health Is My Job!

Today I decided that I don't deserve to have cheat days. I've had enough cheat days in my life, which is why I am 85 lbs heavier then I want to be today. I do not like living like this. I want to be healthy. I want to be able to exercise at will. I want to spring out of bed in the morning excited for the day, not trying to figure out when I will be able to crawl back in.  I don't want to have pains in my feet or worry about boob sweat. I don't want to overheat constantly or get up from sitting with a sweaty back (summer sucks for this issue). 

This is for everything in life, not just exercise. 

I have to be honest with myself. I have cooked healthy, but my portions haven't been good and my slip ups have been more than not. Lots of drinking and with that comes poor choices. I have been trying to really reduce my drinking, so far, I have been good. But, then again, it is only Day 2. Tomorrow will be a challenging day for me as I will be going out and enjoying the first VHS playoff game. Knowing the challenges are coming just means that I will need to plan ahead, not give in to the challenge and let it all go to hell.

It was another good day.

Today, I was invited to give a testimonial about my experience with my favorite podiatrist, Dr. Justin Franson, at the University, Foot & Ankle Institute. I felt honored to do this interview and I took it seriously. I got myself put together, had a cup of coffee and a banana and headed out for my day. In addition to this interview, it was also a minimum day at VHS. This morning Mackenzie decided that she would make it work to be able to get over to Dr. Franson's office to give a testimonial too. She loves Dr. Franson, he is the reason she loves medicine and wants to be in the medical field. Babble, Babble, Babble!

ANYWAY, after my interview, I picked up Mikey and met Mackenzie at Franson's office for her testimonial. She did it and we were off to lunch at Island's. I love having time with my two babies. They both make me so proud, not always when they are together (taunting and arguing), but everyday of their lives. 

While at Island's, I asked for a nutritional menu and chose their No-Blame Veggie Tacos. It was a total of 480 calories for the entire plate of food. It was filling and very yummy. I was extremely proud of my choice, especially since the kids were eating cheddar fries in front of me. I was good, not one fry! My drink was passion fruit unsweetened iced tea.

I'm not gonna lie, I was a little more hungry today, but I stayed with it and continued to drink iced tea with no sweetener. I recently found myself addicted to raspberry iced tea and that is pretty sweet. No more!

I was excited to get home at a decent hour and get into some comfy clothes. I haven't been napping and have only been getting about 5.5 hours of sleep at night, so I was a bit tired. Why am I still up?

For dinner I had leftover white chicken chili and some boy scout popcorn for my snack. I'm under with my calories, but I really don't want to eat just to eat. I will just plan differently tomorrow.  Speaking of tomorrow, I will be up super early to take Brian to Thousand Oaks for his nail bed surgery for his broken finger. I'll spare you a picture of that club looking mess. I hope he will let me mother him just a little. He isn't your typical helpless man, in fact, quite the opposite. My mothering nature kicks into high gear in these situations though. 

Enjoy the rest of your night and stay strong. We deserve to feel good, but we also have to earn it. We have to work for it and it has to matter...each and every day.

Until tomorrow,

Angela

P.S. I know tonight's blog sounds a bit preachy, but I wrote it so that I can read it again later should I ever need to regain my current strength. Thank you for reading. 

November 12th...Lose It!

No more BULLSHIT!

It is time! I am sick of my own bullshit and I am making some serious changes. I need to do this for me, for my kids, for my husband and for my health. I need to lose weight, but I have to do it right and  I have to understand that it is not going to happen overnight. There is no quick fix. There is no magic diet. It is calories in & calories out. I am focusing on that now. Of course, eating clean makes that very easy to do. I just need to remember to go back to that when I am feeling overwhelmed. 

I downloaded the app Lose It! and it is awesome. It tracks everything and makes it so easy to do that it will be easy to track my food, my calories, my exercise and has it all at my finger tips. It also uses the iPhone as a pedometer to tell me how many calories I burned walking today. I took Tommy for a little walk while I was waiting for the groomer and burned 35 calories. It isn't a lot, but it as recorded because the phone tracked it. Then, it gave those calories back to me. My goal is to lose 2 lbs a week, so it gives me the calories that I can take in to achieve that goal. 

Today is day 1 of this challenge and I have succeeded. 

Calories in!

I started my day with 2 cups of coffee with sugar free peppermint mocha creamer. Ran around a bit. Had a banana. Took my packages to the post office that I wanted to ship to my friend, Kevin. Had a clif bar. Drank some crystal light raspberry iced tea and tracked that too. 

For dinner, I made my white chicken chili. The Lose It! app allowed me to create the recipe in it by scanning or adding the ingredients. Then, I divided the total by 4 servings, divided it up into 4 different containers and enjoyed my dinner. It was really good. 

The recipe consisted of canned white beans, monterey jack cheese, verde salsa and southwestern chicken. All was mixed together and simmered until the cheese was melted and soup-like. It was tasty. I normally make this in the crockpot, but today I made it on the stove and it was super fast, easy and not too bad calorie-wise. I'm a happy girl.

White Chicken Chili

During the day, I added my chocolate/banana shakeology shake to my calorie count so I knew that at the end of the night I was going to be able to have a very healthy and tasty shake that I made with a banana, a scoop of chocolate shakeology mix and 1 cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk.  

Almost finished Chocolate/Banana Shakeology shake

That is all for today. I am very happy with Day 1 of my new challenge. Have you started a new challenge lately? What are your hardest obstacles? Please share!

Until tomorrow,

Angela

November 11th...Happy Veteran's Day

Veteran's day! This is a wonderful day. A day to recognize our military and all that keep us safe and living in our country of freedom. I am thankful for all that served, are serving or are considering serving.  Thank you! 

Today, the kids had the day off from school. Mackenzie and I spent the day gathering goodies for a care package we are sending to my dear friend, Kevin who is serving and has been serving since he graduated college in 1988. He is amazing and I am so proud and honored to know him. Unfortunately, we didn't plan ahead and were unable to actually mail it today because it is Veteran's Day and the post office was closed. It will have to go out tomorrow. 

Food-wise, Mackenzie and I went to Dink's by VHS and I had an omelette with meat and veggies and some potatoes and half of a bagel with cream cheese and an iced tea. I also had coffee this morning while I was getting ready, actually, Mackenzie made me coffee to get me out of bed. After all, it was a sleep-in day, my bed was comfy cozy and the clouds were out. 

After breakfast, Mackenzie and I went shopping for our care package. It was bee fun and nothing was too good for Kevin. 

For the rest of the day, I didn't eat anything except for an In & Out double-double with an iced tea. 

Brian was at the doctor and stopped on his way home and bought eclairs. What? I'm trying to be good here. Guess what? I was good!!! No eclair for me! Nope! When I got the craving for something sweet, I made a chocolate shakeology shake with a banana, peanut butter and fat free milk.  

That is it. That is all I had to eat and drink today. I am really trying to cut my calories.  Yesterday, I learned while talking to my docto, I am allergic to sulfates. The reaction is asthma and it has gotten worse in the past couple of months. When I drink I cough like a smoker. I really have to watch my alcohol. That's actually a good thing. I should take this as a positive, right?  Not such an issue with beer, but wine and mixed drinks give me a hard time at first sip. Changes have to be made. Now is the time. 

Until tomorrow,

Angela

 

November 10th...I'm Sick.

Unfortunately, since I have a fever and a horrible asthma type cough; I'm going to bow out again. I haven't eaten much and I just made a smoothie so that the meds don't crush my stomach. Otherwise, I had a egg sandwich from Starbucks this morning with a pumpkin spice latte #PSL and for lunch I had a fuze iced tea with a stuffed chicken and avocado quesadilla from El Pollo Loco. I tried to have a slice of pie, but that upset my reflux, so I am hoping that the smoothie will go down without any ill effects and tomorrow will be a new day. 

My doctor told me today that I am allergic to alcohol. Don't know how I feel about that but it may just help spring board me into an even healthier eating way of life. I love my wine, beer and fun drinks, but they all give me an asthma type of reaction which causes me to cough every time I laugh for the rest of the night. I begin to sounds like a smoker or SARS patient. No fun. Beer doesn't seem to give me the horrible reactions so that may just be my football season beverage of choice. 

I didn't really plan on typing much today, so this is a surprise. I didn't cook or go out of my way to feed anyone. Tomorrow is Veteran's Day. There are so many men and woman that deserve our thanks and remembrance. Mackenzie and I will be sending a care package to my good friend, Kevin Green, that has been serving since he graduated in 1988 and still serves today. I can't wait for him to open all that we can cram into that box. 

Love your family, love your friends like family and love each other. 

And just remember...

Until tomorrow,

Angela

November 5th...I Didn't Cook

I sure have been a cooking slacker lately. I haven't cooked dinner in a few days. With Brian on Nutrisystem, I find that it is much easier to feed Mackenzie and Mikey. Mikey is with me and eats a big late lunch and no dinner and Mackenzie will eat anything. Super easy.

Today, I had an appointment to get my hair did. I am having a great deal of fun cutting my hair. It keeps getting shorter and shorter. But, that's OK because it grows super fast.

After I got the kids ready and off to school, I came home and guess what I did? Yep, folded more laundry. So. Much. Laundry! I swear it breeds!

After my hair appointment, I met my friend, Tammie, at Islands for a yummy lunch. We shared some cheddar fries with bacon and ranch. Well, she had some and I had half. I was starving since I only had coffee up until that point in the day. I also had a Mai Tai and a Longboarder Burger with bacon. It was all good, but the conversation was better. I really enjoy my time with Tammie. We were in such a  deep conversation that I was late to pick up Mikey. Yikes! He's a big kid and he was fine!

After I picked up Mikey, we went to Walgreens to get Mikey some tylenol for his sore, newly rubber banded mouth. After we left, we got home and I started vacuuming the Spencer hair off of the floor. As soon as I sat down, Brian texted me to meet him at Las Rocas for a drink. It is nice to sit with just my honey, so I met him. We sat at the bar. I had beer, chips & salsa and their Tropical Chicken Salad on romaine lettuce. Normally, they serve it with iceberg lettuce (ew!), but they made the substitution and it was great!

Do you see the grilled pineapple soaked in ranch dressing? Yummy!

That was all for the day. Not much, huh? I didn't eat great, but I didn't eat horribly. Eh. That's about how I feel about it. Both time I sat down to eat, I was with someone that is special to me. It was a good day! I hope you enjoyed your day too!

Until tomorrow,

Angela

November 4th...Sushi With My Boy!

Today was a pretty boring day. I was awoken at 5am because my pup, Spencer, who has a hard time adjusting to the fact that time changed. He sits on the bed and cries until we wake up. It wasn't an issue when it was almost 6am, but when it is 5am, it makes me bitter. Silly puppy! 

Spencer knows my morning routine. Gotta make Mackenzie's lunch and breakfast. I made it all up and had a cup of coffee. Sent Maxkenzie off to school and then went upstairs to wake up the boy.  Woke Mikey up and sat down with my coffee. 

Once Mikey was ready to go, I snuck Tommy out to the car and strapped her into her seatbelt. Good thing I did too because some guy driving toward me almost hit me by coming into my lane on our way to school. So scary. 

Dropped Mikey off and came home to fold some laundry. I made myself an egg over toast with a slice of mild cheddar cheese. 

I was able to some an appointment for my nails and toes. Yay. Much needed. You know it is bad when you start dragging around dryer sheets that are stuck to the calluses on your heels.

More laundry and then off to Castaic Nails. I went with grey in my fingers and toes. I love it! I've been painting my acrylics with gel paint. It really lasts a long time and doesn't chip or wear off. Yay!

Before it was time to get Mikey, I went to the Dollar Tree to kill some time. I was starving and made the mistake of buying some lays stacker chips (sour cream and onion). I ate the whole thing. Bad move. Not proud of it. 

Mikey had an orthodontist appointment an hour after he got out of school so we went to Sushi One for a late lunch. It was nice to eat with my boy. They give you a scoop of ice cream with your check. I only had 2 bites.

After the orthodontist, I took Mikey to Active for a new jacket. He had a great deal of work done at the ortho. I always feel bad about his pain. He had a turbo put in along with new stronger wires and rubber bands. We are trying to expedite his time.  We shall see if he sticks with it and wears his rubber bands. The sooner he does that, the sooner he gets his braces off!!!  

That was all I had to eat today. Eating the chips were enough calories to last me the rest of the night. 

Now I am in bed with Mackenzie next to me while she types up her career paperwork for school. Life is good!

Have a great night, my friends!

Until tomorrow,

Angela

November 3rd...Dog Obedience Class (week 3)

Hey everyone! It has been a while since I lost posted. A week to be exact. I took my birthday week off. I am glad I did because I went to hell with myself in the food department. I ate bad, bad, bad! Did I mention that I was bad? I was BAD! I ate desserts almost every night, lots of alcohol and more desserts. It was cray cray!

Today was a better day! I started off with coffee with sugar free pumpkin spice creamer. I made breakfast and lunch for Mackenzie and a smoothie for Mikey. Mikey didn't drink much of his smoothie, so I had the rest. It was made with some yogurt, a banana, frozen fruit and almond milk...oh and chia seeds too. I like to sneak those into smoothies. They work wonders!

I found myself cleaning out my closet today, so I didn't eat lunch. I cleaned and cleaned and then took a little nap. Afterwards, I got myself ready for the day and went to the grocery store. Today, I went to Smart & Final. Since I had Dog Obedience class tonight, I wanted to buy Smart & Final's Chinese Chicken Salad Kit for the kids. I didn't make it before I left because I was afraid it would be soggy since Mikey was at the gym and Mackenzie was working at SoCal Physical Therapy. When I got home from class the salad wasn't made and everyone as asleep. So, guess what we are having tomorrow night? Yep, you guessed it! Chinese Chicken Salad!

I had some of my addiction, that is Raspberry Tea and got myself ready for class. While I was waiting for the time to come to bring Mikey to the gym and drive my butt to class, I had a Turkey burger from Carl's Jr., that I bought for Mikey, but he didn't eat. I had some natural popcorn that was gaggy, but I was hungry and that was it before class.

Once I got home from class, I had a glass of chardonnay and some nuts. That is all that I had for the day. I have a great deal of calories to shed from my birthday week. Man, oh man! So much BADNESS!

Here's a picture of Keith with heart lips! <3

Until tomorrow,

Angela

October 27th...Dog Obedience Class (Week 2)

I wish I could tell you that I did great today. I didn't. I wish I could tell you that I plan to do better tomorrow. I can't. You see, it is my birthday week and I say,  "WTH!" I just don't wanna!

Today wasn't very good. I am not very happy about sharing what I ate, but I will because I need to admit to it. Right here, right now!

I was able to sleep in a little later today because Mackenzie was home sick. I woke up, took the boy to school and went back to bed. 

When I woke back up, it was with Maxkenzie in my bed cuddling with the dogs. She was hungry and we only had 2 eggs, so I made her breakfast. I ate half of a left over chicken club wrap with about 10 reheated French fries dipped in ranch. See, I told you it was a bad day!

I sat with my baby girl for a while and got myself ready to go to the grocery store. I didn't have a menu or a grocery list today so I just got my normal veggies, fruits and dairy. Nothing out of the ordinary. 

I went from the grocery store to pick up Mikey. He asked me to pick up Chipotle and since I had week 2 of my dog obedience training I thought that was a good idea. I could feed everyone in one swoop. I got a salad for me and Mazkenzie and a quesadilla for Mikey. Brian started his own diet so I am not cooking for him right now which makes it very easy. 

I picked up Mikey and came home. Put the groceries away and sat down to eat my salad. After I hung out with the kids for a bit I needed to get ready for my obedience class. 

I grabbed some nuts as I walked out the door. Had some cheese too. As I was driving down Hillcrest, I realized that was thirsty and craving some raspberry iced tea. I'm addicted but it is sweetened so I am trying to cut it out. I went to Taco Bell to get a drink and also ordered 2 mexi melts. They weren't good but I ate them anyway. Why? I can't answer that. The tea wasn't even what I wanted, it was mango and not that good. I hope I don't "pay later" with that mexi melt. 

After the 2 1/2 hours of dog obedience (2 classes back to back) I came home to everyone upstairs in bed. The house smelled like chocolate cake. My mind is playing tricks on me. I was then craving something sweet. I dug through Brian's nutrisysten stash of pantry items that he won't eat and grabbed 2 of the carrot cakes. Yes, 2! They are the size of 1/2 a Twinkie. Not good either, but I ate them. I'm not proud. 

Since my birthday is tomorrow, I do not foresee my day being very good. Brian is staying home so I have no idea where we will end up. Only thing I know is that I will not be cooking. Wednesday, I am going out with my birthday twin, Lisa, and we won't be eating well while we are together either. So you now see my dilemma. It is not a week of great choices it is a week of letting it all go and enjoying!

I hope you have a great week and are able to stick to your program. 

Until tomorrow,

Angela

October 23rd...Sleepy Today

I was not really able to get it together today. I have been very tired all day. In fact, I am on my phone typing this blog while on  my bed. <Yawn>

This morning was like every other except for the fact that it was a minimum day. That meant I was able to sleep until 6:20 instead of 6:00 since Mackenzie's class didn't start until 7:20. Yippee

On my way home from taking Mikey to school with my first and only cup of coffee, I went through the drive thru and got some breakfast from Jimmy Dean's. I ordered their avocado omelet with no toast or potatoes, but with added bacon and sausage. I didn't order anything to drink and that was all I ordered. It was $16! What? I was shocked and won't be ordering that again. What a rip off! It is expensive to make substitutions in order to eat low carb. Geez! 

This does not look like a $16 breakfast, does it? 

My sleepy day progressed with some laundry and an early pick up of Mikey since it was a minimum day. When I picked him up Mikey was hungry. Chipotle was totally packed since it was a minimum day and all of the VHS student population was there and in line.  I bailed out and went to El Pollo Loco. Mikey ordered 2 quesadillas and Mac n cheese. I ordered their double chicken Mexican salad. I only ate one today. Tee hee! 

After a nap (I told you I was sleepy today) I decided to start dinner. Tonight's dinner was a low carb take on Eggplant Parmesan called Eggplant Parmesan Boats.  It was pretty tasty and very filling. I think this one is a keeper too. 

http://www.closetcooking.com/2014/10/eggplant-parmesan-boats.html?m=1

I had a glass of moscato wine and am now fighting reflux due to the sweetness. Blah! Laundry had been folding and the TNF game is on. After the bras are done washing and are hung to dry (TMI?), I will be calling it a night around 7:00pm. I hope you had a great day. 

I will try to do the blog tomorrow even though it is a Friday. It may not be at the end of the night, it might not be complete, and it might not even happen, but I will try. I have to stay accountable. 

Until Tomorrow (?),

Angela 

October 22nd...Surprise Lunch

Today started out like any other. 6:00am wake up, coffee, lunch, breakfast and kids off to school. Once I got back from dropping Mikey off, I came home and made myself some breakfast. Finally! I finally made breakfast for myself. Lisa, you will be proud! I scrambled up 2 eggs, added cheese and served it over cottage cheese. It was a great protein breakfast.

Scrambled eggs with cheese over cottage cheese

I did my normal morning and then I got a call from my girl, Tina. She said, "Get up, get dressed and meet me for lunch!" I loved it! I got up, got dressed and met her for lunch at Eggs N Things! It was so nice to see my friend. I love my Tina! It is also nice that I can get myself ready to quickly now that I have a pixie. Hair is not my issue any longer! I love it!

Once I got to Eggs N Things, I knew exactly what I was going to order. I didn't even need to look at the menu. I was in low carb mode and ordered their southwest salad. Yummy! Oh so good! I was happy and probably could have licked the plate, but I tried to have some sort of class while at the restaurant.

Southwest Salad

Mikey called me and asked me to pick him up from school because he wasn't feeling well. He's been fighting a head cold for about a week now and I haven't been making him stay at school. This morning his cough was so loud, so when he called I felt like I should get him. I picked him up and went through the In&Out drive thru with him for his lunch. I ordered an iced tea.

After we got home, I had some cashew and macadamia nuts. When the time came, I started cooking dinner. Tonight's dinner was from Pinterest and it was called Asian Pork & Cabbage. I served it in romaine lettuce (big mistake it wasn't easy to hold at all!) and I made a pot of white rice for everyone else as well. I only had a scoop of the asian pork and cabbage in a leaf of lettuce. It was pretty good. I liked it.

Asian Pork & Cabbage

The rest of the night, I had a 2 glasses of chardonnay, some more nuts and some cheese. It was a good night. I caught of up on my shows with Mackenzie and now I am sitting here typing to you while I am watching Survivor. The rest of the family has gone up to bed and I still have to clean the kitchen. Poop! Did you have a great day too? I am really feeling good on my low carb way of eating!

Until tomorrow,
Angela

October 21st...Wine

Wine

Wine, yes, Wine! I opened a bottle of chardonnay tonight and finished the whole bottle while I texted back and forth with my SIL, Roxy! We have so much in common and I love her very much.  While we were texting, I was making dinner. Tonight's dinner was a VERY easy dish that I found on Pinterest. It is called One Pot Broccoli Beef. 5 ingredients, ground beef, alfredo sauce, broccoli, Italian dressing seasoning and onion powder. So super easy! You should make it too! It doesn't look tremendously pretty, but it was good and low carb!

One Pot Broccoli Beef

It was slim pickens for breakfast again today. I had coffee and that was it until about 1:30pm. When I finally got myself some lunch, I bought  the El Pollo Loco Mexican Cobb salads. I bought one for Mikey too, but was so hungry, I ate them both. Yikes! Piggy, much? At least it was low carb. BTW, it was REALLY good. Try it, you won't be sad that you did!

That was it for food for the rest of the day. It is almost 8:00pm and I am about ready for bed after my encounter with my wine glass and bottle. :)

I hope you had a great day! I had a grey day meeting my friend, Lisa, at Castaic Nails to get our nails done. I love Castaic Nails. It is a family business that is very sweet. I will always be loyal to them

Until tomorrow,
Angela

October 20th...Low Carbing It

I've decided that I have been eating my fair share of carbs lately. Even though it is GF, it is still carbs. I am in no way giving up vegetables or even fruits (but I am being selective with my fruits and trying to eat more that are lower GI), but I am reducing my rice, bread, potatoes, you get the idea.

Today was my first day with this way of eating. I have done it before, with Lindora, but this is the first time doing it while blogging. I went on a hunt for recipes that are low carb and somewhat clean. Pinterest was my site of choice today and I found many recipes. I figured that all out after the kids were off to school.

Backtracking, I woke up this morning and was not as tired as I normally am in the morning, especially on a Monday morning. I was thankful.  Breakfast was made and lunch was thrown together for the girl, after I had to clean out her lunch box that had been sitting with orange juice spilled on the bottom of it all weekend. Yummy! Nothing is better than the smell of aging orange juice. NOT!

Once the kids were off, I sat and had some coffee while I compiled my menu for the week.  I decided that this week I will focus on a protein and a veggie, no starch. It seems odd to cook like that, but it will be good for me. I need to drop some poundage and NOW!

I had some boneless/skinless chicken thighs in the fridge that needed to be cooked, so I threw them in the crockpot with some tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. Cooked on low and that was what I was going to offer my family tonight while I was away at my first night of my externship with ABC.

After I picked Mikey up, he was starving, as usual. He wanted to go to In&Out or Jimmy Dean's but I was not for those temptations, so I offered Chipotle. He got a steak quesadilla and chips with guacamole and I ordered a steak salad with guacamole. It was so good. It really hit the spot since I didn't eat anything until that point and it was 3:30pm. :(Today was grocery shopping day so I wasn't able to eat or sit down to eat during the day, so 3:30pm was my first attempt at eating.

Yummy Chipotle Salad!

I got home with Mikey and scarfed down my yummy salad. After I was done, I had to get myself ready for my first night for my externship with Animal Behavior College. I have to observe 6 dog classes in the first part of the externship. Tonight, I completed 2 classes. I really like the way my Mentor Trainer, Beth Harrison, runs her classes. It is in a very large room and the dogs are trained while off leash. They get lots of play time before, in between and after training. It is great socialization as well as training. It is also a rotating class, so it is 6 classes that start again as soon as it is done. Dogs can come anytime and are trained where they are with their skills. Love it!

When I got home at 8:45pm, I ate a bowl of my crockpot chicken thighs with a large scoop of cottage cheese. It was very good and filling. I have to say that I really like the thighs in the crockpot better than breasts. They don't dry as easily. 

Looks like it has a cherry on top!

Once I got home and was opening up the mail, I found a letter from the University of Oregon congratulating Mackenzie on being awarded the Apex Scholarship. This means that they are going to give her $4000 a year for 4 years. This is awesome! Any money is very helpful, of course. It is nice to see that she qualified for a merit scholarship. She has worked so hard.

That's all for today! I hope you all had a great weekend and were able to spend some quality time with your families. I was thankful to be able to spend some time with my mother-in-law and then go to visit my father-in-law's memorial site. I sure do miss him. He was a very special man to me!

Until tomorrow,
Angela

October 16th...Unexpected Night Out

I'm a slacker again, it was a day of eating out for every meal. Not something that I am proud of. BUT, I had a great day and evening with wonderful friends, so I am going to chalk it up to happiness and head off to bed. Sorry for being such a slacker on logging my food. I think I will be much better next week. 

Have a great night!

Until Monday,

Angela

October 15th...Too Tired!

I am falling asleep! I will post a double day tomorrow. 😴

October 14th...Sesame Seed(less) Beef

Hello my friends!
Why am I starting this like a letter? No idea! Just thought I would mix it up a bit. Not much of my day was different. Coffee, the entire smoothie that I made for Mikey (he didn't even pick it up) and that was it for the morning. The rest of the day was laundry and cleaning around the house.

I was trying to figure out what I was going to make for dinner tonight and had planned on making salmon, but Mackenzie thinks that it is gross and asked me to make something else. She is always so busy, I will just make it on another night that she won't be home for dinner.

Lunch for me consisted of tortilla chips and some verde salsa and a GF granola bar. Yep! Going the healthy way today! Not!

After I picked Mikey up from school, we went to Jimmy Dean's and I got a Turkey Club Sandwich. I didn't get fries today. This is a huge accomplishment lately.

For dinner, I made a Mongolian-beef type dish called Sesame Beef, only mine didn't have sesame seeds. Why? Because it wasn't in my grocery bag from the store. I remember putting it in my cart. I wonder if the bag-guy thought of me when he finally saw that the little bag of sesame seeds were probably hanging out undetected in the bag area? Anyway, sesame seeds don't have much flavor, if any at all, so it really didn't effect the outcome of the dish. It was tasty. After cooking up the beef, I took it all out and then sautéed up some red onions and mushrooms in the juices. After they were cooked down, I added the beef back. On the side, I made jasmine rice in the rice cooker. If you don't have a rice cooker, get one, it makes life so easy!

Dinner! This picture was taken after it was in the fridge as a leftover though. I forgot to take a fresh picture. 

I just love these new bag seals. Not ziplock, more like velcro. I had to share!

After dinner, I folded some laundry and watched TV with my baby girl. The baby boy was up working on a newspaper that he procrastinated on writing. It is for To Kill a Mockingbird! We shall see how that bodes for him. Little slacker!

Mackenzie told me that she is ready for a change in her breakfast and asked if I would make her some of my crockpot oatmeal. I'm not gonna lie! I love that she craves things that I make for her. Crockpot oatmeal is a great breakfast. I normally make a big batch to last her the week in the fridge. I make it 2:1 (almond milk:oats), add some salt and brown sugar and set it to "keep warm" all night. It cooks it very slowly and isn't over cooked by the morning. I think if it was cooked on "low" it might be overcooked.

Crockpot oatmeal set up and ready to go. I shall see you in the morning, yummy breakfast!

That's all for today! Oh ya, I want to come clean that over the weekend, I had a coke. It wasn't diet coke, but it was a coke while I was at the Oregon vs. UCLA football game. I still will not drink diet coke and I know that regular coke has tons of calories, but in a moment of sitting at a football game, I ordered one. It was so good. I love and have missed the taste of a fountain drink. Still DIET COKE FREE!  I'm sorry I forgot to tell you. I wasn't hiding it, I just plain forgot! 

I hope you had a great day! Do you have any recipes to share? Please share them with me! I would love some new ideas!

Until tomorrow,

Angela

October 13th...Crazy Day

This morning started out like any other week day morning. Coffee, breakfast for Mackenzie and the packing of her huge lunch. I think that if anyone were ever hungry at school, they could go to Mackenzie and she would have food to spare. Crazy, I was just thinking about my drive to school this morning and I totally forgot I did it. It seems like it was so far away. That is the type of day I had.

After the kids were at school and moving on with their day, I needed to get myself moving. I found myself on the computer trying to figure out the menu for the week. This week I used the allrecipes.com website and app. It is great because you can add recipes to your shopping cart and use the app while in the store to check off your items. I wish more sites had this option because it doesn't seem like AllRecipes has tons of recipes that I want to use while trying to cook clean. Pinterest needs something like this though. Remember, you heard it here first!

While I was figuring out the menu, I made myself something to eat for breakfast. Since I had some chicken/rice left over from last week, I added some of that to scrambled eggs and enjoyed a very hearty breakfast.

I got a spur the moment call from my friend, Julie, for lunch and I was so happy that I was able to make it. In addition, our friend, Kim, joined us! Seeing their lovely faces always makes me happy.  We enjoyed a yummy Mexican lunch at Las Rocas. I had lots and lots of chips and salsa and ordered a carnitas tostada. I didn't eat the shell though, don't worry.

After I left lunch, it was time to pick up Mikey. I picked him up and headed to Ralph's because I still hadn't gotten my groceries for the week yet. Mikey walked over to get a subway sandwich while I shopped. I did some serious speed shopping. Once I was done, I walked out to there car where Mikey was listening to his music. Unloaded the groceries into the car and started the engine. Click click click! The car would not turn over. Ugh!!!!!! Car full of groceries and a car that wouldn't take me home. 

I called my friend, Chris, and he dropped his plans and came to my rescue. We got a new battery and he installed it and even made sure we checked it to make sure it wasn't my alternator. It was nice to know that I was in good hands. Thank you to Chris, and his driver, Jesse! 

I was supposed to go to my first externship class tonight, but was unable to swing it with my car issues. :(

I finally got home and organized the groceries into the fridge and started dinner. Tonight's dinner was roasted chicken thighs with red potatoes and roasted green beans. It was a whole lot of roasting. All mixed in olive oil, salt, pepper & garlic salt. The chicken was tossed in Italian dressing seasoning. It was all cooked together at 400 degrees for about 50 mins. Yummy! 

That's all for today. I am exhausted and about to head up to bed. I hope you had a great start to your week. 

Until tomorrow,

Angela

October 9th..My Pace Is Slow But Steady

I keep thinking that because I am in a boot that I am invincible and can do anything. But, I am wrong. The pain is still there, just in different places. The boot is heavy and I can't relax the way I am used to doing. Wahh! What a baby, I am! Sorry! Just had to vent for a second.

Today, was a pretty normal day. Mackenzie skipped first period, so we got to wake up a bit earlier and she drove Mikey to school. That was nice. I made her breakfast and packed her lunch. Made Mikey a smoothie and they were out the door. I found myself back in bed when they left. I feel a bit guilty about it, but I was tired. Who isn't in the morning?

I slept for a little while and then started on my chores. I folded laundry, did laundry and got myself ready to be presentable outside the house. I went to Walmart to get the dry goods that I didn't get when I went to the store on Tuesday. Toilet paper, paper towels, soap, that type of stuff. After I was done there, I went to ToGo's to get sandwiches for me and Mikey. I hadn't eaten anything prior, so I was a bit hungry. I also had a small bag of Doritos. I love the #24 (turkey & avocado) at ToGo's on sourdough. Yummy! I thought I was going to need to bring Mikey to the doctor because he has been complaining about a sore throat, but the medicine I gave him for the day helped. No doctor for us today!

After I left Walmart, Mackenzie texted me and asked me to get some pillowcases for Sports Med. They put their ice packs in the pillowcases when an athlete is using it. So, after I got Mikey, I went back to WalMart. All of that walking exhausted my foot, but I am sitting now with my foot up.

We came home and I cleaned the guinea pig's cage and gave our bearded dragon, Keith, a bath. He won't poop in his cage, so I give him his baths and he poops there. Silly dragon! It does keep his cage clean without smell so I won't complain.

Keith looks like he is wearing a turtle neck that is also a muscle shirt.

It was time to start dinner. Tonight, was a new recipe called Chicken Parmesan Rice Bake. The recipe that I am linking only gives you the recipe for one serving. I didn't necessarily quadruple the servings, I just made a bunch of each thing and threw it together. I had a rotisserie chicken that was pre-cooked. I boned that and chopped it up into bite size pieces. Sautéed the chicken in olive oil and onions. Added garlic and italian seasonings. Once the onions were cooked enough, I added a can of chopped tomatoes, greek cream cheese and fresh spinach, stirring the spinach until it was wilted. I then threw in the left over brown rice that I had from last night. It is always helpful to make extra rice when cooking it for just this reason. Made my dinner much easier to make tonight. Once it was all done, I threw it all into a greased corning wear bowl, added parmesan cheese on top and baked it at 400 for 25 mins.

It doesn't look too appetizing, but it was good, filling and healthy.

Aside from iced tea and a hard cider, that is all I had today. I was surprised to see that I was down some more poundage today. I am now down a total of 4.8 lbs. I still have a long way to go, so it really isn't that great, but it is moving in the right direction and that makes me happy.

I hope you all had a great day! Tomorrow is Friday and it will be a busy day. I'm getting my hair did and that is always fun. I love my hairdresser, Kristy. She has been doing my hair since my senior, Mackenzie, was in Kindergarten. Crazy! She is a miracle worker, that's for sure! Outside of it being my hair day, it is VHS Football day too. This week, Sports Med needs some help with transportation, so I will be driving some of those babies. Love them all and I am always completely impressed with their skills.

Have a great night! I am not sure if I will be blogging over the weekend, starting tomorrow, so I may not be back until Monday. Not sure yet.

Until Monday?

Angela

October 8th...Lazy Day

The morning came quickly and I was not happy about it. I stumbled downstairs and made myself a cup of coffee and turned on the news. Made Mackenzie a breakfast sandwich and packed her lunch. After I walked her out to her car, I woke Mikey up and made his smoothie. I made a pumpkin smoothie, per his request. Little did I find out later, he didn't like it today. He choked down a little bit of it on the way to school because I was frustrated that he would ask for a smoothie and not drink it. Whatever!  I liked it. I drank what was left after he walked into school. It was about 3/4 full.  That was my breakfast.

With my foot in the boot, I pretty much laid low today. I didn't sleep well last night, so I tried to do some resting today. I was not very lucky with sleeping, and not very productive either. I finally got myself ready for the day and picked up Mikey. We were both starving, so we went into Ralph's and each got one of their made to order deli sandwiches. It was so good. We had turkey sandwiches on marble rye (made me think of Seinfeld, Ha!)

Doesn't this look good? So good!

Mikey also bought a bag of chips that we both ate. <opps!> It is so hard to be in the grocery store when you are hungry. It becomes very easy to get food that it not always a good idea. We also bought some guacamole and tortilla chips, but didn't eat that, so yay! 

For dinner, I tried a new recipe and I thought it was a winner. My rice didn't come out perfect, but that was my fault (I used the lines on the rice cooker for water instead of measuring it out. Duh!) it was an added element to the dinner. The recipe is Clean Eating Roasted Shrimp and Green Beans. It had a kick that Mackenzie didn't enjoy, so I would scratch the cayenne pepper, it didn't necessarily make it and won't break the recipe without it. 

Roasted Shrimp and Green Beans with Brown Rice

That's all I had for the day. I am down 2.4 lbs and am happy to see the scale start to move. I hope my little bit of cheating today didn't hurt me too much.

I hope you had a great day! I will leave you with the image I saw in my mind when I ordered my marble rye sandwich.

Seinfeld's Marble Rye scene in a picture

Until tomorrow,
Angela

October 7th...One Big Meal

Today was pretty nonexistent when it comes to food. I had 2 cups of coffee, cleaned the bathroom, did some laundry and got myself ready for the day.  The kids were off of school for another day, so it was an easy day when it came to them.

I was going to be going to the podiatrist, so I thought that I should go and get my feet scraped and my toes beautified before I put my feet into the face of my podiatrist, Dr. Franson. He is such a great guy. He has been Mackenzie's podiatrist for about 9 years and has made Mackenzie the person she is when it comes to helping people. Mackenzie has major issues with her feet when she was a youngin'.  Dr. Franson helped her every "step" of the way. Hahaha! I made a silly!

Anyway, I've been battling plantar fasciitis and morton's neuroma for about a year now. I went to see Dr. Franson about 5 months ago and he shot my foot with cortisone and that helped for about 4 months.  Once it wore off, there was nothing that I could do to help it. I've been going to PT twice a week and we haven't been able to help it. I decided to go back and see what else we could do. Dr. Franson, shot my heel and the top of my foot between the 3 & 4th toes with cortisone and put me in a boot. I am hopeful that this will help reduce the pain and let my foot heal. I'm sure that my weight doesn't help it at all, which is a catch 22 since I can't really exercise with my foot in so much pain. Ugh!

After I left Dr. Franson's office, I went to the grocery store to do my "Monday" shopping on Tuesday. Having the kids off for 2 days is really screwing up my routine! I didn't chop the veggies yet, but I did get the fridge all set up and organized for the chopping that will come tomorrow. To be honest, my foot was killing me and I was exhausted.

Brian was with Chris and wanted to know if I wanted to meet him at Las Rocas. I thought that would be a good idea since I was too tired to cook. I drove over there and ordered an avocado omelet with rice and beans. I had loads of chips with table side guacamole and 2 patron margaritas (to cut the pain, per Brian's suggestion).

That is all I had to eat today. Not much, huh? I was down 1.4lbs from yesterday, so that makes me happy. I'm sure my margaritas will work against me on the scale. No doubt!

Oh ya, I ate a little after my blog was sent yesterday, I had a couple handfuls of TJ's trail mix and 2 small oranges.

I will be trying a bunch of new recipes this week. All pretty high veggie and protein, low on carbs.  I hope they are yummy!  That's all for today! I need to get myself in bed, my foot it throbbing and I am tired. It will be an early day tomorrow with the kids back at school. I hope you all had a great day! Good things are on the horizon.

Until tomorrow,
Angela

October 6th...I Had A Good Eating Day!

I had a good eating day because of YOU! I was not going to be a flake and have another cheating day. I was exposed to things that my weaker self would have crumbled on, but not when I have you by my side keeping me accountable.

As you may know, the kids a 4 day weekend, which makes it harder to stay on track. My boys came home last night from Indianapolis, they flew there for the Ravens vs. Colts game. Today was supposed to be a regular day but with my kids home, but Brian stayed home too. Him being home is cause for bad eating. It shouldn't be, but it is. He and our friend, Chris, tend to go to bars to eat and then there is beer and bad bar food. See what I mean? Bad choices.  Today, Mikey wanted to go out to breakfast with some friends, so he needed a ride. Since Brian was home, he suggested we go out to breakfast too (at a different restaurant, of course). As we were leaving, our friend, Chris, called and needed a ride home from the car dealership, so we picked him up and he joined us for breakfast. It was around 11am. We dropped Mikey off at IHOP and we went to Coco's. I asked for the lunch menu and ordered a cobb salad. Remember when I was addicted to that salad? That was when I was doing good things with my diet, so I thought I would jump back on that bandwagon.  I had iced tea and no coffee for the day.

Later, when I was hanging out with Mackenzie, I had some grapes. I actually stuffed myself on grapes. Yummy! More iced tea was consumed.

As for dinner, I made some GF pasta with sautéd onions, orange bell peppers, mushrooms with olive oil. After the pasta was cooked up in a separate pot, I added it to the iron skillet with the veggies. I mixed the veggies and pasta together and added some GF Barilla pasta sauce and mixed it all up with some shredded cheese.  When I served my bowl, I added cottage cheese to my bowl with my pasta and viola! Dinner was made!

GF Pasta with Fresh Veggies and Cottage Cheese

That's all for today! I am pretty proud of my good eating today. Brian and Chris wanted me to go with them to watch the MNF game, but I didn't want to tempt myself with beer or bar food, so I stayed home and made pasta. That was a good choice. I knew that I was going to make sure that I was proud to share my food for the day with you. Mission accomplished.  I hope you had a good day too!

Until tomorrow,

Angela

Day 112...October 5th

Day 112
I've decided that since I have been such a slacker blogging lately, that I would start posting the date, instead of the day number to head my posts. I don't want to be a slacker, but it seems to be that I am falling into that pattern. I seemed to have fallen off the bandwagon of healthy eating. I really want to get back to it, and I will, but until I do it embarrasses me to share my bad eating.  Just sharing that helps me. I really think it does help. When I know that someone is reading this blog and knowing that I am doing good and bad things help to keep me accountable.  I find that lately, I am all about keeping my kids eating well, but not necessarily myself. Does that make sense? I want them to have all of the nutrients they can get to succeed during their day, but for me, I don't put that much effort. I take the easy way out. I have an obsession with Mexican food. I have been being pretty good when it comes to eating GF, but not always. As we all know, just because it is GF doesn't necessarily mean it is good for you.

I have had some major foot issues that I made worse by going on a nice walk with my friend. I really wanted to get out and walk, but it has set me back with more pain in different parts of my foot. Ugh! Off to the podiatrist I go on Tuesday. It feels as if I have a stress fracture, but I hope not. It's really strange how one pain can take over and the pain you feel somewhere else can disappear while you tend to the other pain. I have a gym membership and have yet to go because my feet have been in so much pain. Plantar fasciitis sucks! It really does!

Wow, I have spent this blog complaining. I don't like to be that type of person, but I guess I had to get it out. I have to stop sniveling and start stepping up and fighting for myself and my health. I must do this. Do you ever go through slumps like this? What do you do to get out of it? I have so many things to be thankful for in my life. I have a husband that works very hard and has climbed through the ranks within his career that has enabled me to stay at home with my kids from the time they were born. I have 2 children that are on the right path in life.  My daughter has exceeded my expectation for her in high school and is now waiting to find out about whether or not she was accepted into the college of her dreams. My son is getting healthy and it makes me proud everyday to see his successes. They both do well in school and I couldn't be more honored to be their mom. They are good humans that have the world at their fingertips. I have 3 dogs, 2 guinea pigs and a bearded dragon that love me.  I am now in the hands on portion of my dog obedience college and am excited to start moving forward with that adventure. All good stuff.

This blog has helped to keep me accountable on my quest to be diet coke free. I haven't had a soda for 112 days in addition to being diet coke free. This is a huge accomplishment for me. I would love to have a large icy fountain diet coke at times, but knowing that you are reading this keeps me on the right track. I don't ever want to tell you that I went back to drinking diet coke. Strange how that is so important to me, but eating large portions of fat leaden foods don't have the same committment. I need to have the same commitment. It is what I have done for so long and it is really hard to stop it. Why can't I feed myself like I feed my kids? I wake up and pack Mackenzie a huge lunch every day with 2 fruits, 2 chopped veggies, a salad, some yogurt, GF protein bar and something crunchy and GF. Why do I feel that I am not important enough to have that type of lunch or why don't I snack on food like that each day too? No idea! But, it needs to change.

The one thing that I have committed to is buying groceries and chopping up the veggies for the week that day. This has helped me to make last minute salads (like for Mackenzie's lunches) and enables me to add veggies to other dishes that I am making. I was talking to a friend of mine that is a nutritionist and she was saying that chopping veggies all at one time and keeping them handy is a great step to good nutrition. Yay! I'm on the right track. One step at a time. I have to say that the chopping of veggies has become a habit for me. I feel out of sorts if that isn't done after I go grocery shopping for the week.

I know that I haven't talked about the food that I've eaten today and I'm not gonna. Tomorrow is a new day and I will be back on track and ready to hold myself accountable again. Thank you for reading and for letting me get that all out. I really appreciate your support. By knowing that you are reading, it helps me to stay accountable to you, if I can't be accountable to myself.

Until tomorrow,
Angela

Day 107...Twas A Good Day

Today was all about studying and taking my stage 9 ABC test. This is the last test that I need to take for my Animal Behavior College before I get to start my externship where I am out in the field doing hands on training with a mentor trainer. I am looking forward to that aspect of my schooling.

Coffee, lunch and breakfast was made. This morning, Mackenzie wanted an egg sandwich and some coffee. I got that set up for her and sent her on her way. Mikey grabbed a protein drink and off to school he went. I came home and made myself some breakfast. It was very tasty this morning. I toasted 2 GF slices of bread and made 2 eggs to place on top. I smashed up some avocado and smooshed that on the bread too. In addition, I scooped some cottage cheese and added some cucumber to the side. It was yummy and filling.

After breakfast, I went about my business of studying/cramming and preparing for the test that I needed to take by the end of the day. It isn't officially due until tomorrow night, but I like to get it done prior to the due date, in case I need more time, for some reason.

I did some laundry, took a little nap and ate some grapes. I left to pick up Mikey and got a call from Mackenzie. She was starving and begged for a Juice It Up. I picked up Mikey (with Spencer seat belted into the back seat) and we went to Juice It Up and Togos (Mikey stayed in the car with Spencer with the car running with A/C). Mikey wanted a sandwich, so I went in and got one for Mackenzie and her sports med BFF, Jessie too. 3 smoothies and 3 sandwiches and I was back on the road to drop off 2 sandwiches and 1 smoothie off to Mackenzie. I got to enjoy a smoothie. We came home and I was back to studying.

Dinner had to be made, so I put some thin chicken breasts on a cookie sheet with italian dressing seasoning spread on the breasts. Baked for 28 mins at 350. Put some rice in the rice cooker and made a nice salad with all of the veggies that I chopped up last night. It was all very easy dinner and covered all of the components of a meal and it was pretty.

On the side, I grabbed a Sparkling ICE black raspberry water and added some red wine to it. It was good, but I really only had a couple of sips. I will put the cap back on and enjoy it tomorrow.

That's all for today! I am exhausted from studying and since I submitted my test, I am off to bed!

Until tomorrow,
Angela

Day 106...Back To The Grind

I have to say that taking the weekends off makes it very easy for me to stick with this blog. I'm going to only have cheat days on those days too, so that I am able to stay on track with good eating during the week. 

Today started out like every other weekday does, smoothies, lunch and kids out the door to school. I had my pumpkin spice coffee because you know, it is fall after all. It makes me happy. The weather has been reasonable lately, so that's nice. 

Kids to school, a little bit of catching up on a couple of shows while the laundry was doing its thing and enjoying the morning.  Once I got hungry, I warmed up some refried beans with sour cream and dipped tortilla chips in it. That was my brunch. 

I happen to call my PT office to see if I had an appointment and I did, so I got myself ready and headed out the door. It was a good day at PT because my baby girl works there on Mondays. That is always an added bonus. I love watching her interact with everyone. Makes a mom proud, that's for sure. 

Mikey waited for me after school and we were back home. I dropped him off and headed out to the grocery store. I just got the basics for making lunches along with my standard veggies that needed chopping. 

Dinner was turkey "cupcake" meatloaf and mashed potatoes. This was a winner with Mikey when I made it last time. I love the Italian seasoned turkey meat it is very flavorful. I grounded up some GF pretzels and added an egg, salt, pepper and onion salt, smooshed it up and put into the cupcake tins. 30 mins at 350. I chopped up the potatoes, put them in water to boil and we were ready to roll. Once they were done, I beat them with butter, milk, salt, pepper and onion salt and I was done. 

While I was making dinner and chopping my veggies, I had a hard cider drink. I had another one while watching the Chiefs destroy the Patriots. 

That is all for today!  I just have to say that I am very thankful for everyone that reads this blog. I ran into my friend, Bridgett, today and she was telling me how she is always impressed with the pictures of the food that I make. It was so kind of her to say. I needed that today too. It really helped motivate me some more. Thank you, Bridgett! 

Until tomorrow,

Angela

Day 102...I Love My Pressure Cooker!

Since I took a long nap yesterday, I didn't get to sleep until around 1:30am. Duh! At least I was able to catch up on my shows. I'm all caught up now, except for Utopia. I have to catch up on that one, but tonight is Thursday Night Football and my Giants are playing, so it will have to wait.

Before I went to bed last night, my throat was killing me. Ugh! I don't want to get sick. Today, I got the kids out the door, grabbed a cup of coffee and came back to go to sleep. I was zonked. I also made the mistake of going to Jimmy Dean's in Castaic to get a breakfast burrito. Not gluten-free or all that healthy, but my sick self was craving comfort food and unfortunately, bad food still comforts me. 

It was a minimum day for VHS today, so I got myself ready to pick Mikey up.  Normally he stays longer and goes out to lunch with his friends, but today, he wanted to come home instead. He was hungry and thirsty, and had some drive-thru requests. Since I was still in a comfort food mind set, I obliged. We went to Starbucks for Mikey to get a pumpkin spice latte frap (he's so basic) #PSL.  I got a passion fruit iced tea, unsweetened.  

For food, he wanted Jimmy Dean's and unfortunately, the lady that served me in the morning was still serving when I arrived with Mikey. Oh my! Yes, it is me again,  Piggy girl! 

Mikey and I both ordered their turkey club sandwiches with fries and ranch dressing. That was around 12:30pm today. 

For dinner, I made carnitas in the pressure cooker. It was very easy. I poured some chicken broth into the bottom of the pressure cooker pot, added a trivet, put in the pork, salt, pepper, italian season herbs and an orange (I saw a recipe that used an orange, so I thought I would try it too). It cooked for 1 hour in the pressure cooker and then I put it in the iron skillet to crisp up any fat that was still hanging on. I may have over cooked it in the skillet, but that is something I can work on. I made a pot of refried beans by opening a can and adding fat free milk and some taco seasoned cheese. When I prepared the plates, I heated up some corn tortillas, put some beans, carnitas, cilantro, red onions and a dollop of sour cream on each plate (x3). I have to say that the tortillas were a bit too dry, but other than that the food was good. 

Carnitas tacos aka my street tacos

That's all for today. I will be going to bed early tonight in hopes that I can get myself right before Friday Night Lights in Santa Monica with Rachel, watching the VHS team along with my girl on the sidelines with Sports Med. 

Until Monday,

Angela

Days 100 & 101

Day 100...Happy Birthday to my baby girl!
Yesterday was a busy day getting things for my girl to make her birthday the best it could be. She left for school and was off for her last birthday while living at home for a while. I can't believe it! Next year, at this time, she will be in college. Wow!

Brian worked from home and I have to say that is really hard. I never realize how loud I am until he is home and I am supposed to be quiet. Making coffee and even walking around with my pups following behind are all things that are loud when someone is on the phone. Humph!

I made myself some eggs with GF toast and cottage cheese for breakfast along with my pumpkin spice coffee. Yum! After that was all done and cleaned up, I got myself ready and started my errand running for the day. I went to In & Out and brought Mackenzie lunch, as per her request and then went over to Edible Arrangements to get 24 of their pineapple pops that were cut into cupcakes, stars and daises and dipped in chocolate. This has been a tradition over the years of edible arrangements and water bottles, have been the snack of choice to share with classmates instead of cupcakes. I'm just glad she has sports med to share it with in high school.

For dinner, we went to Yamato in Valencia or as my kids call it, "The Fish Place!" Of course, there is so much food that they give you. The dinner came with fried rice, miso soup, ginger salad and for the teppan food, I ordered steak, shrimp & lobster. It was very tasty and filling. I also had a sapparo beer and a couple bites of green tea ice cream and chocolate lava cake. OMG! So good!

Fried Rice Heart

That was all for that day!

Day 101...Very Sleepy Today
As I am thinking about and looking at my notes about what I ate today, I can tell you exactly why I was so sleepy. Aside from my sore throat, I didn't eat much. Maybe they both go hand in hand, but regardless the lack of food that I had today didn't help with my energy.

Coffee, lunch and smoothies made and I was back in bed until I had to get ready for PT. I have been in a tremendous amount of pain lately in my shoulder and feet (planter fasciitis), that I was dreading going to PT, but then again, I know it helps.  I grabbed a banana and ran out the door.

I did my PT routine and was there for good 2 hours. After I was all done, I went to Wal-Mart and walked around there for a while. My thought was to make carnitas street tacos tonight for dinner.

I was starving at WalMart, so I grabbed a tin of nuts and shopped and snacked on them.

Once I was done and checked out, I went to Blimpies to get Mikey a sandwich for after school. He is normally starving. I got him a large sandwich and bought myself an iced tea and bag of popcorn. You know, the type that tastes like movie popcorn? Yummy.

I waited for Mikey where I pick him up after school for about an hour, during which time I was reading my ABC book for my Stage 9 exam on October 1st.  I made a bad choice and ordered medium onion rings from Carl's Jr. with ranch dressing while I was ordering a powerade for Mikey.  Once Mikey got in the car, we went straight home and I brought in all of my groceries and fell asleep on the couch. I slept for 2 1/2 hours! I couldn't believe it. Mikey fell asleep in his room too and was asleep for 3 hours. We were sleepy souls!

For dinner, Mikey had the left over food from Yamato and half of his Blimpies sandwich. Brian had the other half of the sandwich and I had popcorn.

That is all for today. I am tired again and am ready to go to bed. I am currently watching Red Band Society and it is really good. Check it out!

Until tomorrow...maybe,
Angela

Day 99...Blog Free Weekend

Ok, I'd be lying if I said that I didn't miss you over the weekend. I did! I missed you. I didn't miss telling you about all of the bad things that I ate, but I missed you nonetheless.

The weekend was about football, football, football. It's football season, so that's all I do. Friday night, I watch Valencia High School play, in addition to watching my girl help the boys on the side lines with Sports Med. Saturday, I watch USC (they didn't play this weekend) and Sunday it is all about my fantasy team and football pool. I was 2-0, but this weekend killed me. My team sucked it up and all of my benched players kicked butt. Isn't that how it goes? 

I've learned that Monday morning lunches are a bit harder to make than Tuesday. The difference is that it is slim pickin's in the food department, so Mackenzie gets what I can scrounge up. Today was veggies, fruits, protein bar, GF peanut butter/Jelly sandwich. I was running around today, so I wasn't able to do a big shopping spree, but I did get some foods for lunch tomorrow. I may not even need it though, it is my baby girl's 17th birthday, so I will be bringing her lunch along with Edible Arrangements that she will share with Sports Med. 

Coffee today was pumpkin spice coffee with almond milk and some sweetener. I realized that it wasn't stevia sweetener and that made me sad. But, the coffee tasted so good. I love the feeling that pumpkin coffee brings to me. (#basic) Reminds me of when I used to push the kids on their swings outside while the leaves blew in the breeze and I could actually smell that fall was on its way. Today is the last day of summer and I am afraid that we will wake up tomorrow without any changes in our weather. I used to say that summer was my favorite season, but for a while now, it has been fall. 

For lunch, I met my friend, Lisa, at Telly's and we went to hell with ourselves. She has been sad because her son left for college and I've had the health of a friend on my mind, so we both drowned our sorrows in burgers and fries/onion rings with ranch. But, we didn't stop there, nope, for dessert, (because you know dessert is a must with lunch Ha!). She had a chocolate chip cookie with ice cream and I had pumpkin cheesecake.  It was heavenly. You will see that I like to overdo it with the pumpkin in the fall. 

After we finished our visit, I made my way over to my friend's house to give her some love. My goal is to keep her supplied with bone soup to help nourish her while she battles her illness. Today, I grabbed the "soup" container that we are exchanging and will refill it tomorrow. I am excited to make this soup for her. I bought a pressure cooker to help me make these soups even quicker so that her supply never diminishes. This soup helps me to feel like I am doing something for her. I am thankful that she is allowing me to do it.  

Tonight, I cooked a whole chicken in the pressure cooker (25 mins) and then roasted it in the oven to brown the skin. I am boning the chicken and will be making another batch of bone soup with the chicken bones and additional fresh veggies to help season the broth. 

Dinner was chicken with roasted potatoes, onions & carrots. I added a little bit of sour cream to my veggies. It was tasty. That is all for today. Thank you for reading! Love the people in your life and think about ways that you can make their lives more enriched because you were there for them.

Until tomorrow,

Angela

Day 94 & 95...Thursday Night Beatdown (aka TNF)

Day 94

Last night I totally passed out and forgot to write my blog. Once I went upstairs and got my jammies on, I knew it was doomed. I contemplated not writing anything about the day, but here it goes...

I woke up, yada yada yada, expect for the fact that Mackenzie skipped her first class and drove Mikey to school for 2nd period. It was a nice morning break, expect Tommy wasn't too pleased. She loves her car rides. I was supposed to meet my friend, Tina, at LA Fitness to take a yoga class, but my belly was bugging me, so I skipped it. I have yet to step foot into the gym. I want to go, but my plantar fasciitis is so bad that I feel I may make it worse for myself. Just doing groceries kills my feet for the day. I will continue PT and hope that I can take baby steps for the gym.

After the kids were off, I made myself a cup of coffee and 2 eggs over GF brown rice toast with butter and cottage cheese. It was really good and filling and it made me happy.

Breakfast of yesterday and today!

Aside from dehydrated mangos, that was all I had for the day. For dinner, I was smart enough to have planned ahead and purchased a Chinese chicken salad kit from smart & final. They used to or still do sell it at CostCo, but now that they sell it at Smart & Final, I am super happy. All you do is add romaine lettuce or wherever lettuce you want to add. It is cool and refreshing for the hot days that we have had upon us.

Chinese Chicken Salad kit. YUMMY!

2 hard ciders later and I was out for the night!

Day 95

You know those people in your life that you say, "Hello" to when you see them, but don't know very much about them? I have a friend like that in Tammie. The difference is that we are becoming better friends, because we seem to have a great deal in common and think that we can be supportive of each other. I like that! My blog has helped this friendship too. She has been reading it, so we would talk about it when we ran into each other. Those conversations went deeper and we are now becoming friends. I am very thankful for this friendship. We all have so many challenges in our lives and we feel like we are alone at times. You never know who will walk into your life and see  you where you are at and be able to help you through it with support and friendship. 

Today, Tammie and I went to have lunch at Sushi One in Valencia. I really like this sushi place. Today we tried different rolls and shared it all. Great food and wonderful conversation makes for a perfect lunch. A little something special that the restaurant does is give you a scoop of ice cream with the check. You know how some places give you oranges? This place gives you ice cream. Uh, yum!!!

Scoop of ice cream. It was so little and perfect.

For breakfast, I had my coffee and my egg/GF toast with cottage cheese. I didn't eat anything after lunch. For dinner, I ate the chicken crockpot dish that I threw together earlier in the day. It wasn't very good. The carrots and the potatoes didn't cook all the way. At least the chicken was cooked. A bit of a disappointment, really. I added some butter and sour cream and choked it down. 

That's all for my consumption today. One thing that I feel is important is that you tell your friends that they matter to you, always. If it comes to your mind, say it. You never know what they are going through in their private lives. Validating their importance to you may just be the dose of love they need to keep their days happy. It seems that the people that are the most helpful to others are the ones that won't ask for help for themselves. For those of you that are my friends, reading this blog, please know that I treasure you! 

Until tomorrow,

Angela